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State v. Wright2/11/1999
The Juvenile Court of White County terminated a mother's parental rights to two small children. The only question in this appeal is whether the State proved by clear and convincing evidence the statutory grounds for termination. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
I.
Kristalena K. Smith was born on May 4, 1989 to Ralonda Wright Smith and Johnny Smith. Justin Thomas Wylie was born out of wedlock on December 6, 1992 to Ralonda Wright Smith and Craig Douglas Wylie. Ms. Smith and Mr. Wylie later married.
In February of 1994 Ms. Wylie took the children to a babysitter and told the babysitter that she would return for the children by 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. By the afternoon of the next day Ms. Wylie had not returned and she could not be reached. She had left the name of a relative, but that person refused to become involved. The Department of Human Services (DHS) took the children and filed a petition for temporary custody. The petition alleged that the children had also been sexually abused.
On February 22, 1994 the Juvenile Court of White County held a hearing on the petition and found that the best interests of the children required removal from the parents' custody and that there was no less drastic alternative. Ms. Wylie was represented at the hearing by retained counsel. There is no transcript in the record from that hearing.
In March of 1995 the children were placed with their maternal grandmother. Ms. Wylie showed up occasionally. She lived with Mr. Wylie in Tennessee, Texas, and Florida, but sometimes she was completely out of touch with the children and their grandmother for long periods of time. On the occasions when Ms. Wylie did show up, she did not take any interest in the children. The grandmother sometimes refused to let her daughter see her children because she upset them. In September of 1995 the grandmother asked DHS to take the children back and expressed a hope that the children would never be returned to Ms. Wylie.
For part of the time her children were in state custody, the mother lived with a man by the name of Cooper. Cooper's mother testified that the children visited with Ms. Wylie and Mr. Cooper, but that the children were neglected, not fed, and scarcely had clothes to wear. Ms. Wylie's sister rescued the children and took them back to their grandparents.
Ms. Wylie would not take advantage of any of the state services offered to help her gain parenting skills. Neither would she comply with a plan of care developed for her and the children. She disappeared for most of one year before one of the state workers located her in jail just three months before the final hearing in this case. For the seven months up to the date of the final hearing, Ms. Wylie had visited her children only six times.
Ms. Wylie testified that she was now in a stable environment, living in subsidized housing with enough room for the children. She said she had a job caring for an elderly person and could care for the children. Her family members, including her mother who had had such reservations about the children ever being returned to Ms. Wylie, testified that she had changed, that she was divorcing Mr. Wylie, and that she could provide a home for the children.
At the end of the hearing the juvenile Judge found clear and convincing proof of the grounds for termination, but he deferred for sixty days a decision on whether termination would be in the children's best interests. After a hearing on September 23, 1997 the juvenile Judge entered another order containing the following findings and Conclusions:
"The Court further finds upon clear and convincing evidence that it is in
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