In the Matter of Ortego, Unpublished Decision (3-8-2000)
In the Matter of Ortego, Unpublished Decision (3-8-2000)
Opinion of the Court
OPINION
Appellant Joseph Chambers, Sr. appeals the decision of the Court of Common Pleas, Tuscarawas County, Juvenile Division, granting permanent custody of his two minor children to the Tuscarawas County Department of Human Services ("TCDHS"). The relevant facts leading to this appeal are as follows. Appellant is the father of Joseph Chambers II, born June 23, 1992, and Margareax Chambers, born March 22, 1995. Appellant has been separated from Lisa Chambers, the mother of Joseph II and Margareax, since 1994. TCDHS has been involved in the provision of services for these children, as well as Lisa's two other minor children, Anastasha Ortego and Genevieve Houston, since approximately January, 1997. On February 10, 1998, all four children were placed in the temporary custody of TCDHS. On September 17, 1998, TCDHS moved the court to modify temporary custody of Anastasha, Joseph, and Margareax to permanent custody. A hearing was held before the magistrate on March 18 and 19, 1999. In a decision dated April 2, 1999 the magistrate awarded permanent custody of all four children to TCDHS. The court adopted the magistrate's decision without objection on April 19, 1999. Appellant filed his notice of appeal on May 18, 1999. Appellant herein raises the following two Assignments of Error:I THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND ABUSED ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT DETERMINED BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT PERMANENT CUSTODY TO THE TUSCARAWAS COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES WAS IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHAMBERS CHILDREN.
II THE TRIAL COURT ERRED AND ABUSED ITS DISCRETION WHEN IT DETERMINED BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT THE CHAMBERS CHILDREN COULD NOT (SHOULD NOT) BE PLACED WITH APPELLANT WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME.
The plain error doctrine has been used with regard to permanent custody proceedings. See In re Rose (Feb. 24, 1986), Delaware App. No. 85-CA-16, unreported. However, "[t]he discretion which the juvenile court enjoys in determining whether an order of permanent custody is in the best interest of a child should be accorded the utmost respect, given the nature of the proceeding and the impact the court's determination will have on the lives of the parties concerned." In re Awkal (1994),
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Common Pleas, Tuscarawas County, Juvenile Division, is affirmed.
GWIN, P.J. and WISE, J. CONCUR.
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