C.H. v. State Department of Human Resources8/16/2002
B.S.H., C.L.H., and T.L.H., the children of C.H. ("the mother") and T.H. ("the father"), were found dependent by January 12, 2001, orders of the trial court. On November 20, 2001, the Etowah County Department of Human Resources ("DHR") filed petitions seeking to terminate the parental rights of the father and the mother to B.S.H., C.L.H., and T.L.H. (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the children"). On January 30, 2002, the trial court conducted a hearing at which ore tenus evidence was presented. On February 11, 2002, the trial court entered an order terminating the mother and the father's parental rights to the children. The mother and the father appealed.
The mother was 40 years old and the father was 47 years old at the time of the hearing in this matter. The mother and father had never married, and both parents were unemployed. The record indicates that the mother has six children. The mother had three children, R.H., A.H., and W.H., with her former husband, and three children, B.S.H., C.L.H., and T.L.H., the three children involved in this case, with the father. At the time of the January 30, 2002, hearing in this matter, B.S.H. and C.L.H., twin girls, were seven years old, and T.L.H., a boy, was six years old. The record indicates that DHR became involved with the parents in April 1995, when it received reports that the parents were using drugs and that the children were being neglected and abused.
Beverly Bankston, a social worker with DHR, testified that she worked with the family from January 2000 until July 2001. Bankston testified that the first meeting to develop an Individualized Service Plan ("ISP") was held with the parents on February 15, 2000; at that time, the children were still in the custody of the parents. Bankston testified that the February 15, 2000, ISP required the parents to meet the children's health needs, to refrain from using drugs, and to submit to random drug tests. According to Bankston, DHR also arranged for the family to receive counseling through Gadsden Psychological Services, a family counseling service used by DHR. Bankston testified that in April 2000, the father tested positive for drug use. Bankston stated that the parents had also failed to address some the children's medical needs; the record indicates that many of the children's teeth were rotten.
According to Bankston, on April 21, 2000, because of the father's positive drug screen and the parents' neglect of the children's dental health, DHR placed the children in the custody of the maternal grandmother. Bankston testified that at the time the children were placed in the maternal grandmother's custody, the mother had not submitted to a drug test. The record indicates that the mother was asked to submit to a drug test in April 2000, but that she refused to do so.
Bankston testified that on April 28, 2000, the father tested positive for drug use and on May 1, 2000, both parents tested positive for drug use. The record indicates that, during the same time frame, the maternal grandmother returned the children to the parents on two occasions. Bankston testified that because of the maternal grandmother's failure to abide by the custody arrangement, DHR placed the children in the custody of C.P., the father's stepdaughter from a previous marriage. The record indicates that DHR received reports that C.P. was also failing to abide by the custody arrangement. According to Bankston, on June 13, 2000, which was a Tuesday, C.P. informed DHR that the mother had taken the children from her home for the weekend and that she had not returned them. Bankston testified that during the summer and fall of 2000, DHR held several meetings with the parents stressing the necessity to comp
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