In the Interest of N. Y.
In the Interest of N. Y.
Opinion of the Court
The natural father of N. Y. and M. Y. appeals the Whitfield County Juvenile Court’s order extending the temporary legal custody
The termination of parental rights occurs upon the application of a two-step analysis. In the Interest of R. U., 223 Ga. App. 440, 442 (477 SE2d 864) (1996). First, the juvenile court must find clear and convincing evidence that parental misconduct or inability exists under OCGA § 15-11-81 (b).
DFCS removed M. Y. and N. Y. from the home in January and March 1999, respectively. N. Y. was then 14 years old; M. Y. was 12. By separate unappealed orders, the juvenile court thereafter adjudicated the children deprived with the consent of the parties. Following a two-day hearing in March 2000, the juvenile court granted DFCS’ motions, extending temporary legal custody of the children with DFCS for a period of one year; granted DFCS’ motion for nonreunification as to the mother; and denied DFCS’ nonreunification motion as to the father. The mother does not appeal from the juvenile court’s order. In a single enumeration of error, the father argues that the juvenile court erred in extending custody of the children with DFCS in that DFCS’ evidence showing his parental unfitness was stale. We disagree.
Viewed in a light most favorable to the juvenile court’s determination, In the Interest of J. M. B., 231 Ga. App. 875, 876 (501 SE2d
In other testimony, Dr. Stevens testified that he did not favor any attempt to reunify the family until family counseling was complete and that he had “serious concerns about [the father’s] parental judgment.” Dr. Stevens had met with the family only twice at the time of the hearing below. The record of the father’s psychological evaluation, a copy of which was entered in evidence, indicated that the father required individual counseling. In this regard, the juvenile court ordered temporary legal custody of the children extended with DFCS, properly finding that while the father had completed psychological testing, he refused to follow through with individual counseling. The court further found that the “Citizen’s Panel attempted to excuse him from this requirement [individual counseling] so long as [the father] participated in family counseling with the children and so long as the visits were progressing well.” After N. Y. was sodomized, DFCS stopped any further contact between the father and N. Y. In denying M. Y.’s claims of physical abuse, the father testified that M. Y. was a “spoiled child.” In other testimony, the father
This evidence authorized the juvenile court to find clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct or inability and that the children’s deprivation
Judgment affirmed.
The 2000 amendment, effective July 1, 2000, redesignated subsections (b) through (r) of former OCGA § 15-11-41 as subsections (a) through (q) of present OCGA § 15-11-58. Ga. L. 2000, p. 20. Former OCGA § 15-11-41 (o) was redesignated as OCGA § 15-11-58 (n).
The removal of custody of a child from its parents in favor of DFCS is an action suspending parental rights. Rodgers v. Dept. of Human Resources, 157 Ga. App. 235 (1) (276 SE2d 902) (1981). While such an action does not terminate parental rights in a final sense, id., it necessarily involves the termination of parental rights. It follows that an action extending the removal of a child from its parents and further placing custody in DFCS, as here, also involves the termination of parental rights.
Parental misconduct or inability is determined by finding: 1) that the child is deprived; 2) that the lack of proper parental care or control is the cause of the deprivation; 3) that such child’s deprivation is likely to continue or will not be remedied; and 4) that continued deprivation is likely to cause serious physical, mental, emotional or moral harm to the child. OCGA § 15-11-81 (b) (4) (A).
In the Interest of D. I. W., 215 Ga. App. 644, 645 (1) (451 SE2d 804) (1994).
The father testified that he learned his new wife’s age as he married her, the marriage occurring a month after he divorced the mother.
In any event, the unappealed earlier findings of deprivation as to the children established their status as deprived for purposes of the March 2000 hearing. In the Interest of J. M. B., supra at 878 (1) (a).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the Interest of N. Y., children
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published