In re N.Y.

1

IN RE: N.Y.

No. 1022-2023

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

January 18, 2024

UNREPORTED ^[*]

Circuit Court for Montgomery County Case No. C-15-JV-23-000255

Graeff, Shaw, McDonald, Robert N. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

OPINION

Shaw, J.

On June 7, 2023, the Montgomery County Department of Social Services ("the Department") removed a two-year-old child, whom we shall refer to as "N.Y.",^[1] from the home where she lived with her mother ("Mother"), due to concerns about Mother's mental health. The Department filed a Child in Need of Assistance ("CINA") petition and a request for emergency shelter care in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, sitting as the juvenile court.^[2] The court granted the request for shelter care and scheduled an adjudicatory hearing on the CINA petition.

Following an adjudicatory hearing, the court found that it was contrary to N.Y.'s welfare for her to remain in Mother's custody. The court ruled, however, that N.Y. was not a child in need of assistance because N.Y.'s biological father ("Father"), who lived in another state, was able to give proper care and attention to N.Y.'s needs. Pursuant to § 3-819(e) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article ("CJP"), the court dismissed the CINA petition and placed N.Y. in the legal care and custody of Father. ^[3] Mother was granted supervised visitation.

Mother filed a timely appeal and presents the following questions for our review, which we have rephrased:^[4]

1. Did the court abuse its discretion in denying Mother's request for a postponement of the disposition hearing?

2. Did the court abuse its discretion at the disposition hearing by granting custody to Father? For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

BACKGROUND

CINA Petition

In the petition filed on June 7, 2023, the Department alleged that it received a report that Mother, N.Y.'s sole caretaker was unable to care for N.Y. due to Mother's mental health concerns. According to the report, on June 6, 2023, Mother took N.Y. to an urgent care facility and to a hospital emergency room and reported that she and N.Y. had been "taken over" by a cult that had control over their minds and bodies. Mother claimed to hear "voices from the cult" and expressed a belief that the cult regulated N.Y.'s body temperature, caused N.Y. to develop premature pubic hair, and transferred a birthmark from Mother's body to N.Y.'s body. Mother was taken into custody for an emergency evaluation and was involuntarily hospitalized.

The Department alleged that it had contacted Father, who lived in Michigan, but, at that time, Father indicated he was not a resource for the child. The Department urged that placement was required to protect N.Y. from serious immediate danger, and requested that N.Y. be declared a child in need of assistance.

Amended CINA Petition

On July 3, 2023, the Department filed an amended petition which alleged that Father was willing to be the child's custodian, that he had been "vetted," and that he was found to be a suitable custodian. The Department requested that the court issue an order placing N.Y. in the care and custody of Father and awarding visitation to Mother and that the CINA case be closed.

Adjudication Hearing

The adjudication hearing on the Department's CINA petition was held on July 7, 2023. Mother was represented by counsel. Father was present via remote connection and was also represented by counsel. The Department called Jessica Jackson, an assessment social worker employed by the Department. Ms. Jackson testified as an expert in the field of social work, including safety and risk analysis. Mother was the only other witness to testify.

Through Ms. Jackson, the Department introduced evidence that, on June 30, 2022, Mother was forcibly removed from her home in Texas and hospitalized for a week. The hospital contacted Father and asked him to come to Texas and take custody of N.Y., who was being cared for by N.Y.'s maternal grandmother ("Grandmother"). Father traveled to Texas but, when he arrived, Grandmother avoided his calls.

Father picked Mother up from the hospital when she was discharged. He told Ms. Jackson that Mother was "acting fine" at that time, but, three days later, Mother began saying that Grandmother was "in a secret society." Mother regained custody of N.Y. and left Texas because, according to Father, she was no longer comfortable living in her apartment.

In October of 2022, the Department opened a "risk of harm" case after it received a referral advising that Mother left Texas and traveled to Maryland before the child welfare authority in Texas had completed its assessment. Ms. Jackson was assigned to contact Mother to ensure she was connected with the appropriate resources and support in Montgomery County. On October 20, 2022, Ms. Jackson met with Mother and N.Y. in a hotel room in Silver Spring. Ms. Jackson observed baby supplies and a car seat in the room. She had no concerns about N.Y.'s appearance.

Mother denied having any mental health issues or service needs. She told Ms. Jackson that she did not understand why she had been hospitalized in Texas in 2022. She claimed that she went to the hospital at that time only to "talk to someone[,]" and that she had been "misdiagnosed" with psychosis. Ms. Jackson provided Mother with local resources for outpatient mental health services, which Mother declined. The Department closed the risk of harm case in December of 2022 with recommendations that Mother utilize the referrals for mental health services.

Between April and June of 2023, Mother called 911 thirteen times with concerns about a "mind control cult." Undated body camera footage of Mother's encounter with Montgomery County police at her home was admitted into evidence and played for the court. The footage itself is not part of the record on appeal. To the extent the audio was not unintelligible, it was transcribed for the record. According to the transcript, Mother told the two police officers who responded to her home that she had been trying to contact police for about a week to "bring [the police] up to date." She said that "[t]hey can control people" although she did not explain who she meant by "they." She told police that "they" were able to "keep control of you" using strands of hair that were "engraved into the wall" of her apartment and a "yellow substance" that was "everywhere." She said, "I've been cleaning up. It still doesn't change the fact that my mind is open. Like, I can hear what they're saying." She said that she "just wanted somebody to come in and kind of document everything." Mother denied to police that she felt like hurting herself or anyone else. She said, "Please stop asking me mental health questions. I'm trying to save the world." Police concluded the encounter after assuring Mother that her concerns had been documented.

On May 31, 2023, Mother sent an email to Officer Jennifer Dougherty of the Montgomery County Police. Mother wrote: "[W]e spoke about the mind controlling cult yesterday. I gathered all information on the type of cult this is and how they put me under their control." Mother then described events that she claimed had occurred in Texas in 2022.

Mother wrote that, in July 2022, she "started hearing a voice" that she recognized as the voice of her stepfather, Charles. According to Mother, Charles claimed to be a "sorcerer who molest[s] children," and told her that he had molested N.Y. Mother claimed her neighbor was sleeping with Charles "to get to a higher rank in their cult[,]" and was being paid by Charles to spy on her. She said that "random flies" started appearing in her house, and that Charles was "entering [her] home using these insects." She became "terrified" and left her apartment with N.Y. On the way to a hotel, her phone died "suddenly," and she felt "back to being controlled."

Mother explained to Officer Dougherty that she took N.Y. to several hotels in Texas, but the cult was "able to track [them] down" at each stop. Mother said that she "felt a horny sensation as if they were trying to touch [her.]" The cult was also "putting sensations" on N.'s "private area[.]" Mother wrote:

I started smelling weird scents, hearing noises coming from animals rustling. They started screaming in my ear saying I was god and my child was Jesus. We walked to the [gas station] across the street, trying to find someone who wasn't a child molester to help. The gas station clerk refused to let us stay inside.

Mother said "they" told her no one would help her because she did not "molest [her] child even after the sensation they put on [her]." Mother called the police for help, and the police offered her a ride home. Mother refused the ride because "they" told her that the police car had "something in it that would give them access to touch [her] child."

Mother concluded her email by offering to provide more details, if needed. Officer Dougherty acknowledged receipt of Mother's email and said she would review it.

On June 2, 2023, Mother emailed Officer Dougherty again. She wrote:

I'm wondering if I could file a police report here in Maryland about what that cult has been doing to me and my kid. Ever since we got our apartment here . . . they've been putting all types of sensations on us.

Duplicating uncleanable stains all over my home, causing breakage to my walls and making our belongings disappear. I really need to report everything they are doing to us even though we have left Texas please.

On June 5, 2023, Office Dougherty responded to Mother, stating:

Filing a police report is not going to protect you from these things. I was wondering if you would consider going to a doctor and tell them all the things you have been telling me. If this

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