RCW v. State (In re To)

401 P.3d 932

In the Matter of The Termination of Parental Rights to: ARLeB and RCW, Jr., Minor Children.

Teresa Louise LEBLANC, Appellant (Respondent),

v.STATE of Wyoming, DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES, Appellee (Petitioner).

S-17-0020.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

September 15, 2017

Representing Appellant: Kenneth DeCock, Attorney at Law, Sheridan, Wyoming

Representing Appellee: Peter K. Michael, Wyoming Attorney General; Misha Westby, Deputy Attorney General; Jill E. Kucera, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Kucera.

Guardians ad Litem: Office of the State Public Defender: Dan S. Wilde, Deputy State Public Defender; Aaron S. Hockman, Chief Trial and Appellate Counsel, Wyoming Guardian ad Litem Program. Argument by Mr. Hockman.

Before BURKE, C.J., and HILL, DAVIS, FOX, and KAUTZ, JJ.

DAVIS, Justice.

[¶1] Mother appeals the termination of her parental rights with respect to two of her sons, ARLeB and RCW, Jr.¹ We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶2] Mother raises two issues:

1. Was there sufficient evidence to support termination of Mother's parental rights?

2. Did the district court err in closing the termination proceedings?

FACTS

[¶3] Mother's lengthy history of involvement with the Department of Family Services (DFS) began in 2000, before the children involved in this case were born. In early February of 2010, law enforcement found drugs and paraphernalia in her home, which she shared with her boyfriend and another adult male. The children involved in this case were present when the drugs were found. When informed of this development, DFS had the county attorney file a neglect petition.

[¶4] At the time, Mother was already receiving individual counseling, substance abuse treatment, and parenting education. DFS prepared a case plan with a goal of family preservation. In April 2010, Mother signed a consent decree which included many of the requirements contained in the case plan.

[¶5] Six months later, while Mother was still subject to the terms of the consent decree, DFS received reports from law enforcement that she had assaulted her oldest child ZB after catching him in an inappropriate sex act, that ZB had bruised ARLeB's ears, and that officers had taken the children into protective custody. During its subsequent investigation, DFS found the family's home to be very cluttered and dirty, with an odor of urine. Mother could not locate prescription medication for ARLeB, and she had not been providing it to the child. DFS also discovered that Mother had allowed ZB to possess pornographic material, and to continue to supervise the two younger children, even though ZB was known to have physically assaulted ARLeB.

[¶6] After a shelter care hearing, the juvenile court placed ARLeB and RCW, Jr. with their father and vacated the consent decree. It later determined that Mother had neglected her children following her admission that she had failed to adequately supervise them, and that she had exposed them to illegal substances and pornographic materials. Although ARLeB remained with his father, RCW, Jr. was returned to Mother's custody. Nevertheless, in February of 2011, with RCW, Jr. in the home, she held a tattoo party where alcohol and synthetic marijuana were present.

[¶7] Shortly thereafter, she had a number of encounters with law enforcement. In March of 2011, Mother was a subject in an ongoing drug investigation that ultimately resulted in her pleading guilty to charges of delivering a controlled substance. Three months later, she received a suspended sentence, but within a month, she was charged with driving while under the influence. RCW, Jr. and an unrelated but intoxicated juvenile were with her when she was pulled over.

[¶8] Nearly a year went by before either child was allowed to return to Mother's home, and during that time she continued to use synthetic marijuana, a problem that was brought to the attention of her probation officer, her DFS caseworker, and the drug court program in which she was participating. RCW, Jr. returned to live with Mother in March of 2012, and ARLeB returned five months later. ARLeB had been attending a therapy program due to his problems with starting fires, lying, and being defiant, and he began counseling upon his return to Mother's home.

[¶9] However, an October urinalysis revealed that Mother was using marijuana, a probation violation for which she was sanctioned by incarceration, and which shortly thereafter led to her participation in an inpatient treatment program. It also led her to agree with DFS to place ZB and RCW, Jr. in the care of others. She first had a teacher and then a family friend care for ARLeB.

[¶10] During roughly this same period, RCW, Jr.'s counselor observed signs that would later cause her to diagnose him as suffering from an adjustment disorder which was likely precipitated by difficulty dealing with a specific stressor. One circumstance that impacted him was his mother's drug use.

[¶11] Despite regular counseling sessions, ARLeB continued to exhibit a propensity for starting fires, lying, and vandalism while living with Mother, and also while later living with both the teacher and family friend. As a consequence, in February 2013, the juvenile court ordered him into DFS custody, and DFS placed him in a residential treatment facility.

[¶12] Mother remained in residential substance abuse treatment until April of 2013, and throughout the summer and fall of that year, circumstances were such as to renew hope that the neglect case could be resolved by reunification of the family. She obtained housing, found employment, continued her involvement in drug court, completed her GED, and continued in counseling. She began having unsupervised visitation with RCW, Jr. By January 2014, her caseworker hoped that RCW, Jr. could be placed back with Mother by summer.

[¶13] In fact, RCW, Jr. began a trial home placement with Mother in June of 2014, and on October 1 the juvenile court ordered that he be placed in Mother's legal and physical custody. However, later that very same day, DFS learned that officers had taken him into protective custody because he disclosed that drugs were being used in Mother's home. The next day Mother tested positive for marijuana, admitted to her probation officer that she had taken some in candy form, and also admitted that she had been using an intoxicant similar to synthetic marijuana for several months. In subsequent interviews with law enforcement, she reported that individuals living in her apartment had methamphetamine, and that she had delivered some. She also admitted that her roommates had gotten RCW, Jr. high on drugs on at least one occasion.

[¶14] On October 3, 2014, the juvenile court placed RCW, Jr. back in DFS custody. Later the district court revoked Mother's probation, and in February of 2015 she was sent to prison at the Wyoming Women's Center. Due to her admissions and the condition of her home, she was also convicted of child endangerment. She received a sentence of three to five years imprisonment, which was suspended in favor of supervised probation, to begin upon completion of her existing prison sentence for delivery of a controlled substance.

[¶15] By March 2015, juvenile protection authorities began to focus on adoption as the potential permanency plan for both children. ARLeB had remained in residential treatment, and he had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, disruptive behavior disorder, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. During counseling sessions, he reported abuse by one of his parents and sexual abuse by his sibling, ZB. At a multidisciplinary team meeting in May, Mother stated that she would relinquish her parental rights to ARLeB, noting that there were trust issues between them, and that the boy had not been around her for almost six years.

[¶16] Upon her release from the Women's Center on April 11, 2016, Mother resided at a Casper rescue mission for a bit over a month. She then moved in with a man that she had known for little more than a month. She met him after moving to Casper upon her release from prison. He was the janitor at a club for recovering substance abusers where she had started working as a cook.

[¶17] On August 14, 2015, while Mother was incarcerated at the Women's Center, DFS petitioned to terminate her (and the father's) parental rights to ARLeB and RCW, Jr. Of the three grounds alleged against her in support of the petition, the case went to a bench trial on two of them: 1) that she neglected or abused the two boys, that reasonable efforts to rehabilitate the family were unsuccessful, and that the children's health and safety would be seriously jeopardized if returned to her; and 2) that the children had been in foster care for fifteen of the most recent twenty-two months, and that she was unfit to have custody and control of them.

[¶18] Before presentation of evidence at the termination trial, the parties' attorneys, the children's guardian ad litem, and the district court discussed a DFS motion aimed primarily at safeguarding the confidentiality of documents produced in the juvenile neglect case involving ARLeB and RCW, Jr., which DFS planned to submit as exhibits in support of termination. Several means of achieving that end were considered, including redacting or restricting access to such records, and either closing the trial or issuing protective orders governing disclosure by persons attending the trial of testimony on confidential matters. With respect to closing the proceedings to the public, Mother's attorney represented that she was "fine" with that option so long as a person accompanying her for emotional or moral support could attend. Ultimately, the court closed the proceedings, but allowed Mother's support person to stay.

[¶19] Following a four-day trial at the end of June 2016, the district court took the case under advisement, and on August 17 it issued a detailed order terminating Mother's parental rights to ARLeB and RCW, Jr. She timely...