In re Journey L.
In re Journey L.
Opinion of the Court
Opinion
In this termination of parental rights appeal involving four minor children, the respondent mother claims that the trial court failed (1) to correctly apply the relevant law regarding her alleged failure to achieve a sufficient degree of personal rehabilitation by improperly considering her ability to parent all four children together rather than her ability to parent each child individually, and (2) to apply relevant law in its determination that it is in the best interests of all four children to terminate her parental rights instead of determining that it was in the best interest of each individual child.
Thereafter, on December 6, 2011, the commissioner filed petitions for termination of parental rights as to each of the four children on the ground that the child previously had been found to be neglected and that the respondent and each father had failed to achieve a degree of personal rehabilitation sufficient to encourage the belief that, within a reasonable time, they could assume a responsible position in the life of the child. The respondent and both fathers were served, and counsel was appointed to represent them. Counsel, who also served as their guardian ad litem, was appointed for the children. Subsequently, on February 15, 2012, the father of J, S and K consented to the termination of his parental rights, and, after a canvass by the court, his parental rights to the three children were terminated. On May 24, 2012, R’s biological father consented to the termination of his parental rights, but the court withheld judgment on the petition to terminate his parental rights, pending a hearing on the petitions to terminate the respondent’s parental rights. On October 23, 2012, through its oral decision, the court terminated the parental rights of R’s father and terminated the parental rights of the respondent as to her four children. This appeal followed.
In its oral decision, the court noted that, in the petitions, the commissioner alleged that the department of children and families (department) had made reasonable efforts to reunify the children with the respondent or that the respondent was unable or unwilling to benefit from reunification efforts; that the children had been found in a prior proceeding to have been neglected and uncared for; that the respondent had failed to achieve the degree of personal rehabilitation that would encourage the belief that, within a reasonable time, considering the ages and needs of the children, the respondent could assume a responsible position in the fives of the children; and that it is in the children’s best interest to terminate the respondent’s parental rights. In making these allegations, the commissioner essentially tracked the statutory scheme for the termination of parental rights pursuant to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i).
In its oral decision, the court noted that it heard evidence from two therapists, a sexual abuse evaluator, the assigned department caseworker, and David Tobin, whom the court recognized as an expert in clinical and forensic psychology. The court noted, as well, that it heard testimony from the provider of supervised visitation and integrative parenting and from the pastor of the church that the respondent attended. The court also received numerous exhibits into evidence.
As to the respondent’s failure to achieve personal rehabilitation, the court found that Tobin testified that
With respect to the specific steps the respondent was ordered to take in order to address her parenting deficits, the court found that, while she had begun individual therapy with a therapist with whom she developed a positive relationship, the respondent refused to engage with a different therapist once her initial therapist moved from Norwich to Colchester or to travel the relatively short distance from Norwich to Colches-ter to continue with her original therapist. Tobin considered the respondent’s failure to continue individual therapy as indicative of her “inability to understand her children’s special needs and to develop the capacity to meet them.” The court further observed that Tobin had testified persuasively that the respondent had little insight into her parenting deficits and had been unsuccessful in her therapeutic interventions. The court concluded: “The department has made reasonable efforts to reunify with [the respondent], but [she] has been unable to obtain the necessary insight or skills to parent her children, and there is no reasonable prospect that [the respondent] will obtain them or rehabilitate sufficiently in the foreseeable future to play a responsible position in the life of her children.” The court found, as well, that it was in the best interest of the children that the respondent’s parental rights, as to all of them, be terminated.
The court’s decision clearly implies that the court found that the respondent’s failure to continue in therapy, her lack of insight, and her impaired reality testing bear on her capacity to be a parent. In short, while the court expressly found the respondent incapable of parenting all four children, within its finding is the clear implication that the respondent lacks the basic insights and capacities to parent any of the individual children, each of whom the court found had significant deficits and attendant needs that were unmet by the respondent. The record provides clear and convincing support for the court’s conclusions in this regard. Similarly, the
The judgments are affirmed.
We note that, pursuant to Practice Book § 67-13, counsel for the minor children, who also served as their guardian ad litem, filed a statement urging this court to affirm the judgment of the trial court.
In this opinion, we refer to the respondent mother as the respondent, as neither of the fathers appealed from the judgment terminating their parental rights.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.