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In re M.B.10/4/2005
An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Respondent-parents L.W. and N.B. appeal from a district court order terminating their parental rights. We affirm.
Facts
Respondent L.W. is the biological mother of both M.B. and E.W. Respondent N.B. is the biological father of only M.B. Both children were placed in the custody of Mecklenburg County Youth andFamily Services (YFS) on 26 September 2002, and both were adjudicated neglected juveniles on 30 December 2002.
Sometime before 22 January 2003, L.W. entered into a case plan with YFS in which she agreed to maintain steady employment and stable housing, complete a parenting class for children from zero to four years of age and a parenting class for children from five to twelve years of age, and become involved with the F.I.R.S.T. program for substance abuse issues. Further, YFS requested that she seek individual therapy. Since YFS became involved with L.W., she has not been continuously employed, and between January 2003 and May 2004, she moved at least three times. Further, YFS was unable to locate her between August 2003 and January 2004. L.W. did complete the class on parenting zero- to four-year-old children, but failed to complete the class on parenting five- to twelve-year-old children. When confronted about the fact that she had not completed the second class, L.W. indicated that she was unaware of this requirement; however, YFS records indicated that she had been apprised of this requirement on two occasions. She did not complete the substance abuse program to which she was referred and did not subsequently enroll in any other substance abuse program. Further, L.W. spent time in jail for failure to participate in a court-related substance abuse program. Likewise, she did not pursue individual therapy.
YFS also entered into a case plan with N.B. The provisions of this plan required substance abuse treatment in a day program, completion of a class on how to parent children between ages zeroand four, obtaining stable housing, and obtaining stable and consistent employment. N.B. completed the substance abuse day treatment program; however, he was subsequently arrested and convicted of driving while intoxicated. Likewise, he completed the required parenting class and maintained fairly stable employment. At some point in 2003, N.B. moved in with his sister, who did not want M.B. to live in her home. According to N.B., he had applied for housing approximately ten times between the placement of M.B. in the custody of YFS and the hearing of the petition to terminate his parental rights, which spanned approximately two years; however, he was unsuccessful due to his prior criminal record. Further, although N.B. did visit with his child on some occasions, he missed between four and ten visits and was late for three others. As of May 2004, N.B. had paid $2,754 in child support , and he was approximately $1,400 in arrears.
The YFS caseworker assigned to work with M.B. and E.W. indicated that
[the children were] in a loving [foster] home they've been with for a year. The foster parents have a good relationship. They interact as a family unit. And [as of the termination hearing the children had] not seen their parents . . . in over 10 months.
She added that the children were "doing very well" in foster care. The trial court ruled that the parental rights of Leslie W. and N.B. should be terminated because, inter alia, E.W. and M.B. were left in foster car
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