In this termination case, In re Jones, Minors, No. 336271, the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) appealed the Oakland County
Circuit Court’s order dismissing the petition to adjudicate and terminate the
parental rights of the respondent-mother to her three minor children.
The Michigan Court of Appeals
(MCOA) reversed and remanded the matter for further proceedings. The Michigan
Supreme Court denied the request for leave to appeal by the mother.
FACTS: The facts are that three of the children live with their
father who was granted sole legal and physical custody in 2014. The mother was
not granted parenting time with those children. The fourth child, AM, lived
with the mother until May 15, 2016 when AM was found dead in her home. The
medical examiner performed an autopsy on the partially decomposed body and,
although unable to determine the exact cause of death, ruled the death a
homicide. The mother never reported the death. She was arrested, charged with
felony murder, second-degree murder, first and second-degree child abuse and
failure to report a dead body. As of September 14, 2017, she was awaiting trial
in Wayne County.
DHHS filed a petition to terminate
the mother’s parental rights to her three children in Oakland Circuit Court,
which authorized the petition then ordered it transferred to Wayne County,
which refused to accept the case. The mother didn’t admit to the allegations in
the petition nor was a trial held, however, the trial court dismissed the
petition.
Oakland Circuit court’s reasoning
for dismissal was that it was impossible to establish jurisdiction since the
children, placed with their father, were safe; and, since it was unlikely that
the children would ever see their mother, assuming jurisdiction over them
wasn’t in the interests of judicial economy.
Analysis:
DHHS, in challenging the dismissal, argued that the fact that the children are safely placed with
their father didn’t detract from the danger the mother posed to the children if
they were ever to be returned to her care and does not prevent the trial court
from finding jurisdiction under MCL 712A.2(b).
The mother and the children’s
lawyer-guardian ad-litem (L-GAL) disagreed, arguing that,
because the children were safely in
the care of their father, they were not being neglected, had not been
abandoned, and were not at a substantial risk of harm to their mental well-being,
the trial court could not have possibly have jurisdiction pursuant to MCL
712A.2(b).
The MCOA noted that the state may
exercise its authority to protect children by seeking an adjudication over one
or both parents as the circumstances warrant. And, the court noted, as found in
prior opinions and once jurisdiction over the children is established, may also
terminate the rights of one parent while the children are living safely with
another.
The MCOA reversed and remanded the
matter back to the trial court stating: “we find that the trial court clearly
erred by concluding that the children’s safe placement with their” father
barred its exercise of jurisdiction under MCL 712A.2(b). And, because the trial
court didn’t conduct an adjudication trial, the court couldn’t determine
whether jurisdiction would be appropriate.
The matter was appealed to the
Michigan Supreme Court which was denied.
Labels: adjudication, Lawyer-guardian ad-litem, Oakland County, termination appeal, termination of parental rights
