in Re Interest of N.G., a Child
in Re Interest of N.G., a Child
Opinion
Texas Family Code section 161.001(b) allows for involuntary termination of parental rights if clear and convincing evidence supports that a parent engaged in one or more of the twenty-one enumerated grounds for termination and that termination is in the best interest of the child. TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(A)-(U), (b)(2). To affirm a termination judgment on appeal, a court need uphold only one termination ground-in addition to upholding a challenged best interest finding-even if the trial court based the termination on more than one ground.
See
*233
id.
§ 161.001(b) ;
see also
TEX. R. APP. P. 47.1 ("The court of appeals must hand down a written opinion that is as brief as practicable but that addresses every issue raised and necessary to final disposition of the appeal.");
In re K-A.B.M.
,
On October 25, 2015, the Department of Family and Protective Services (the Department) received allegations of neglectful supervision and physical neglect of the child, N.G. The Department determined that the adults living in N.G.'s home had exposed the child to methamphetamine and marijuana and that N.G. was living in a "hoarder home." The Department placed N.G. in protective custody.
N.G.'s mother had a criminal history involving methamphetamine use and possession. N.G.'s father had previously been incarcerated for a drug offense, and at the time the Department placed N.G. in protective custody, the father was imprisoned for violating probation for a robbery charge. Throughout the case, the trial court ordered the mother and father to complete educational services, drug and alcohol treatments, and counseling services. Both parents failed to submit to drug testing on multiple occasions, and both failed to comply with the other court-ordered services.
After a trial, the trial court issued an order terminating each parent's parental rights and awarding the Department sole managing conservatorship. The trial court terminated both parents' parental rights under three grounds-section 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E), and (O) of the Texas Family Code -in addition to finding that termination was in N.G.'s best interest. See TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(D), (E), (O), (b)(2). The parents timely appealed.
Each parent separately challenged the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court's findings for termination of their parental rights to N.G.
Only the mother petitioned for review in this Court. The issues before us include: (1) whether a parent, whose parental rights were terminated by the trial court under multiple grounds, is entitled to appellate review of the section 161.001(D) and (E) grounds because of the consequences these grounds could have on their parental rights to other children-even if another ground alone is sufficient to uphold termination; and (2) whether the court of appeals erred in failing to address whether the trial court's order was sufficiently *234 specific to warrant termination under section 161.001(b)(1)(O).
Under section 161.001(b)(1)(D), parental rights may be terminated if clear and convincing evidence supports that the parent "knowingly placed or knowingly allowed the child to remain in conditions or surroundings which endanger the physical or emotional well-being of the child." TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(D). Section 161.001(b)(1)(E) allows for termination of parental rights if clear and convincing evidence supports that the parent "engaged in conduct or knowingly placed the child with persons who engaged in conduct which endangers the physical or emotional well-being of the child."
failed to comply with the provisions of a court order that specifically established the actions necessary for the parent to obtain the return of the child who has been in the permanent or temporary managing conservatorship of the Department of Family and Protective Services for not less than nine months as a result of the child's removal from the parent under Chapter 262 for the abuse or neglect of the child.
Section 161.001(b)(1)(M) further provides that parental rights may be terminated if clear and convincing evidence supports that the parent "had his or her parent-child relationship terminated with respect to another child based on a finding that the parent's conduct was in violation of Paragraph (D) or (E) or substantially equivalent provisions of the law of another state."
The United States Constitution and Texas Constitution provide parents due process rights as to the care, custody, and control of their children.
Compare
U.S. CONST. AMEND. XIV , § 1,
with
TEX. CONST. art. I, § 19. The United States Constitution mandates that no state shall "deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." U.S. CONST. AMEND. XIV, § 1. In Texas, "[n]o citizen of this State shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, privileges or immunities, or in any manner disfranchised, except by the due course of the law of the land." TEX. CONST. art. I, § 19. This Court has stated that there is no "meaningful distinction" between due process of the law under the United States Constitution and due course of law under the Texas Constitution.
See
Univ. of Tex. Med. Sch. v. Than
,
*235
Courts have long recognized that due process "guarantees more than fair process" and "provides heightened protection against government interference with certain fundamental rights and liberty interests."
Troxel v. Granville
,
In parental termination cases, due process mandates a clear and convincing evidence standard of proof.
See
In re A.B.
,
When due process requires the heightened standard for termination of parental rights by clear and convincing evidence, it follows that due process also requires a heightened standard of review of a trial court's finding under section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E), even when another ground is sufficient for termination, because of the potential consequences for parental rights to a different child. A parent may be denied the fundamental liberty interest in parenting only after they have been provided due process and due course of law, and terminating parental rights based on a challenged, unreviewed section 161.0001(b)(1)(D) or (E) finding runs afoul of this principle.
See
U.S. CONST. AMEND. XIV , § 1 ; TEX. CONST. art. I, § 19. When a parent has presented the issue on appeal, an appellate court that denies review of a section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) finding deprives the parent of a meaningful appeal and eliminates the parent's only chance for review of a finding that will be binding as to parental rights to other children.
See
In re S.K.A.
,
In
In re J.F.C.
, we reviewed whether a jury charge's omission of a question as to the child's best interest violated the parents' due process and due course of law rights.
For the first factor, the private interest affected is the mother's fundamental right to raise her child. See id . (explaining that the private interest is a "commanding one" because "when a state initiates a parental rights termination proceeding, it seeks not merely to infringe that fundamental liberty interest, but to end it" (internal alteration & citation omitted)). The mother's liberty interest at stake in this case is of the highest importance. See id.
For the second factor-"the risk of error created by the [s]tate's chosen procedure"-the procedure at issue is allowing a challenged section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) finding to stand unreviewed on appeal when another ground is sufficient to uphold termination of parental rights. See id. This procedure creates the risk that a parent will be automatically denied the right to parent other children even if the evidence supporting the section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) finding were insufficient. See TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(M).
The third factor in balancing the state's interest against the parent's rights is the state's interest in using the challenged procedure.
See
In re J.F.C.
,
Additionally, when a court of appeals reverses a finding based on insufficient evidence, the court must "detail the evidence relevant to the issue of parental termination and clearly state why the evidence is insufficient to support a termination finding by clear and convincing evidence."
In re A.B.
,
Next, we address whether the court of appeals erred in failing to review the trial court's order to ensure it was sufficiently specific to warrant termination under section 161.001(b)(1)(O).
See
TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(O). In essence, to terminate parental rights under section 161.001(b)(1)(O) : (1) the parent must have failed to comply with the provisions of a court order, which (2) specifically established the actions necessary for the parent to receive custody of the child from the Department, which serves as the permanent or temporary conservator of the child.
After a permanency hearing, the trial court adopted the Department's service plan and incorporated it into its order. In its permanency hearing order, the trial court stated:
[H]aving reviewed the service plan filed by [the Department], [the court] finds that the service plan is reasonable, accurate and in compliance with previous orders of this [c]ourt and it does adequately ensure that reasonable efforts are being made to enable the parents to provide a safe environment for the child and the [c]ourt finds that [the Department] has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan that is in effect.
The court of appeals concluded that the evidence was both legally and factually sufficient to support a finding that the mother failed to comply with the order. 575 S.W.3d at ----. The court of appeals did not review the specificity of the order, however.
See
A trial court order referenced by section 161.001(b)(1)(O) is a mandate or directive that establishes some steps or actions necessary for the parent to obtain return of the child who is in the Department's custody.
See
TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(O) ;
e.g.
,
In re B.L.R.P.
,
Section 161.001(b)(1)(O) makes clear that an order must be sufficiently specific to warrant termination of parental rights for failure to comply with it.
See
TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(O). The trial
*239
court is most involved in the termination proceedings and is in the best position to address the specificity of an order.
See generally, e.g.
,
In re B.M.M.
, No. 04-17-00860-CV,
In the court of appeals, the mother argued that "the evidence was legally and factually insufficient to show that she failed to comply with the provisions of a court order that specifically established the actions necessary for the parent to obtain the return of the child."
2
See
575 S.W.3d at ----. Because a trial court must necessarily decide that a court order is sufficiently specific for the parent to comply before terminating a parent's rights under section 161.001(b)(1)(O), a trial court cannot terminate parental rights for failure to comply without first considering the order's specificity.
See
TEX. FAM. CODE § 161.001(b)(1)(O). Likewise, an appellate court errs when it upholds termination under a section 161.001(b)(1)(O) finding without considering the specificity of the order. Here, the court of appeals noted that the mother did not argue the service plan itself was not sufficiently specific, characterizing her challenge as to the specificity of the order only.
See
575 S.W.3d at ----. Because the trial court incorporated the service plan into the order, however, we conclude that the mother's challenge encompassed the specificity of the service plan. While the court of appeals held that the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the trial court's finding that the mother failed to comply with the provisions of the order under section 161.001(b)(1)(O), it did not address the specificity of the order's provisions.
See
Without hearing oral argument, see TEX. R. APP. P. 59.1, we grant the petition for review and reverse the court of appeals' judgment affirming the trial court's termination of the mother's parental rights because the court of appeals erred in failing to review the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support section 161.001(b)(1)(D) and (E) findings as grounds for termination, and because the court of appeals failed to address the specificity of the order under section 161.001(b)(1)(O). Therefore, we remand the case to the court of appeals for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
We recognize that this holding may mean that appellate courts will review findings under section 161.001(b)(1)(D) or (E) without reviewing other grounds. Because those other grounds carry no weight for parental rights to other children under section 161.001(b)(1)(M), due process demands no more.
We note that the mother did not raise an issue under section 161.001(d), which provides exceptions to termination of parental rights under 161.001(b)(1)(O). See Tex. Fam. Code § 161.001(d). As such, we do not address section 161.001(d) here.
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