In re Z.B.

1

IN RE: Z.B., Z.I.

No. 1462-2021

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

May 27, 2022

Circuit Court for Montgomery County Case Nos. 06-I-19-000043 & 06-I-19-000044

Kehoe Beachley, Zic, JJ.

OPINION ^[*]

ZIC J.

The appellant, S.B. ("Mother"), is the mother of Z.B (born in 2014) and Z.I. (born in 2018) (collectively "children").^[1] In a child in need of assistance ("CINA")^[2]proceeding, the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, sitting as a juvenile court, awarded custody and guardianship of the children to their maternal aunt and uncle, ^[3] who live in Houston, Texas. The court ordered visitation between the children and Mother to "be under the direction of" the children's aunt and uncle. The court rescinded the commitment of the children to the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services ("Department"), closed the CINA case, and terminated the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

BACKGROUND

Mother and the Children's History with the Department

Mother resides in Silver Spring, Maryland. On May 19, 2017, the Prince George's County Department of Social Services ("PGDSS") expressed concerns about two-year-old Z.B.'s whereabouts upon receiving a report that Mother was on a psychiatric hold at Washington Adventist Hospital. PGDSS contacted Z.B.'s father, K.B.^[4] K.B. reported an incident that occurred at Z.B.'s maternal grandparent's home on May 18, 2017 that involved Mother attempting to throw Z.B. into the street. The police took Mother to the hospital, and Z.B. was left with her maternal grandparents.

On May 31, 2017, PGDSS received a report that Mother, after running through traffic, swung two-year-old Z.B. "like a rag doll" and screamed "come save me!" Mother was admitted to a hospital and tested positive for marijuana. When she was admitted, Mother screamed that Z.B.'s paternal grandfather was in a gang and that her ex-husband was after her because Z.B. is a "special seed." The hospital found Z.B.'s father and returned Z.B. to his care. On June 7, 2017, PGDSS received a report that Z.B. sustained bruises while at her father's house. At the time, Mother was reportedly living with gang members and, according to a social worker's previous assessment, appeared to be engaged in substance use and had mental health issues.

On January 11, 2018, the Department received a report concerning three-year-old Z.B. The report stated that Z.B. was returned to Mother and that Z.B. was dirty, wore the same clothing for weeks, and had several small bruises on her right hand. The report expressed concerns about Mother's history of marijuana and PCP use, that her apartment reportedly smelled of marijuana, and that she was allegedly high while caring for Z.B. The allegations resulted in opening a risk of harm assessment due to suspected caregiver impairment.

A few days after Z.I.'s birth, ^[5] Z.I. tested positive for marijuana and the Department opened a subsequent risk of harm assessment. Beginning in August 2018, Mother stopped responding to the Department's attempts to meet with her.

On February 15, 2019, the Montgomery County Police Department responded to Mother's apartment complex and found Mother swinging Z.I. around at the top of a concrete stairwell, yelling, "the evil is coming to get me but I'm strong!" Mother was also holding Z.B. by her neck. When police entered the home, they discovered that the home was filled with clothing and jars of urine, and hair was taped to the ceiling. An emergency petition was filed due to Mother suffering a "manic and paranoid psychotic break" and the children were removed from the home. The police interviewed neighbors, who reported that Mother began acting "paranoid" at around 3 a.m. on February 15, 2019. The neighbors indicated that Mother knocked Z.I. into a banister and was screaming about "the evil." In the hospital where the children were medically cleared, the Department found that the children were in dirty clothes. Z.I.'s snowsuit was covered in about 100 pellets of mouse feces, and she drank from a bottle "like she's never eaten before in her life."

On February 19, 2019, the Department filed a CINA petition. The juvenile court entered a shelter order, finding it "contrary to the [children's] welfare to remain in . . . Mother's home." The children were placed in the temporary care and custody of the Department. The court suspended visitation until Mother's condition stabilized and the Department deemed it safe for visitation to occur. At the Department's recommendation, the court also ordered Mother to undergo twice weekly drug urinalysis testing.

Adjudication and Disposition of the CINA Petition

An adjudication and disposition hearing was held on March 20, 2019. The court determined that the allegations in the Department's CINA petition were sustained by a preponderance of the evidence. Accordingly, the court found the children to be CINA because (1) the children were "neglected" and (2) Mother was "unable" and each of the children's fathers were "unable and unwilling" to give proper care and attention to the children. The court ordered:

Supervised visitation by the Department for the first four weeks, minimum once weekly; then if successful, the next four weeks shall be supervised by the Department and a vetted family member minimum once weekly[;] then if successful, remaining supervised visitations shall be supervised by a vetted family member. No overnight visitation or unsupervised visitation shall occur at any time[.]

The children were later placed together in kinship care with their maternal grandparents and maternal aunt, A.A., in Severn, Maryland.

The court also ordered Mother to: (1) have "[a] psychological evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations"; (2) "[t]ake her psychotropic medications as prescribed by medical doctors"; (3) undergo "[a] substance abuse evaluation and follow all treatment recommendations"; (4) engage in "[t]wice weekly urinalysis"; (5) participate in "[p]arenting coaching"; and (6) "[a]ssist the Department to identify and locate the fathers of the children."

The Department's Initial Report and Mother's Psychological Evaluation

The Department's June 12, 2019 court report indicated that Mother visited the children on March 29, April 5 and 12, May 3, and July 8, 2019 with the Department and maternal aunt A.A. During some of the visits, the Department heard Mother telling Z.B. that she was hyper and needed to calm down. During the July 8, 2019 visit, Mother lost her phone. She then became "extremely preoccupied trying to locate it" and "indicat[ed] that [Z.B.] caused the phone to be lost." Nonetheless, the Department reported that Mother "does show the [children] love and affection during her visits, and [the children] are excited to see their mother." There were visits scheduled for May 10 and 24, 2019, but they were canceled because Mother did not call by 5 p.m. the day before to confirm her visits. On May 31, 2019, A.A. met Mother for an early dinner visit with the children and then they went to the family's residence. A.A. did not realize how late it was and the family permitted Mother to stay overnight. A.A. reported that everything was going well the next day until "out of nowhere [Mother] star[ted] verbally attacking [A.A.'s] 14-year-old sister, E.A., accusing her of dragging and hitting [Z.B.]" The family reported that Mother became "very angry, yelling, stomping[, ] and making allegations that no one understood where they were coming from."

A.A. reported the overnight stay and promised that it would never happen again. On July 2, 2019, the Department discussed Mother's violation of the court order that prohibited overnight visits with the children. During the discussion, Mother made "all kinds of allegations against her family and their treatment of [the children] and towards her." The Department reported that it was "unable to follow all [of Mother's] complaints and allegations as she became [increasingly] upset and started rambling in an incoherent way."

Mother reported to the Department that she was receiving individual therapy and medication management at Vesta, the clinic to which she was referred, but Vesta's Clinic Director reported that Mother failed to schedule and attend appointments. After the Department had a discussion with Mother regarding her failure to comply with the court's order requiring mental health treatment, Vesta's Clinic Director reported that Mother attended a medication management appointment with a nurse practitioner on June 12, 2019 and was prescribed Gabapentin, Seroquel, and Hydroxyzine to treat her mental health. Mother, however, was not provided refills because she was possibly pregnant.^[6]The Department also reported that Mother tested positive for marijuana on several dates in March, April, and May 2019 and that she "sporadically participated in twice weekly urinalysis."

Mother began a psychological evaluation with Dr. Katherine Martin in June 2019. The evaluation was completed over the course of three appointments. The evaluation stated that Mother was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Bipolar Disorder. Mother acknowledged that she "has anxiety attacks and every now and then [she] ha[s] depression." She also admitted that she stopped taking her prescribed medications several weeks earlier. Results of the tests Mother participated in indicated that she had mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Dr. Martin provided an evaluation of Mother's behavior:

[Mother] fails to take personal responsibility for the problems she faces. She views herself as being punished without cause. While [Mother] may tr[y] to control her emotions, her thin façade of emotional control quickly gives way to anger and suspiciousness. She relies on rationalization, blame, and

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