IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON
In the Matter of the Dependency of No. 79885-5-I
C.G.-P. (DOB: 02/25/2004), consolidated with
No. 79889-8-I
STATE OF WASHINGTON,
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN,
YOUTH AND FAMILIES, DIVISION ONE
Respondent,
V.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
CHERYL GREEN,
Appellant.
_______________________________ FILED: March 9, 2020
KORSMO, J.1 — A mother appeals an order terminating her parental rights.
We conclude that she was afforded due process, an unfit parent, and unlikely to
resolve her parental deficiencies in a timely fashion. Accordingly, we affirm.
FACTS
C.G. is the mother of a teenager, C.G.-P. The Department of Social and
Health Services (Department)2 filed a dependency petition regarding C.G.-P. in
April 2017, after a school truancy officer reported the youth had not attended
school since June 2016. C.G.-P., then age 13, was removed from C.G.’s care
and never returned.
1 Judge Kevin M. Korsmo is a Division Three judge serving with the Court
of Appeals, Division One, under CAR 21(a).
2 In July 2018, the Department of Social and Health Services transferred
child welfare responsibilities to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families.
RCW 43.2 16.906. We refer to both as “the Department” in this opinion.
No. 79885-5-112
C.G. agreed to the dependency in June 2017. A dispositional order was
entered in July 2017. To address her parental deficiencies of mental health
and/or substance use issues, these orders required 0G. to complete random
urinalysis, mental health counseling, medication management, an alcohol/drug
evaluation, a psychological evaluation with a parenting component, and follow all
treatment recommendations. The court ordered visitation at the youth’s
discretion and required 0G. to keep the Department informed of her contact
information.
The assigned social worker met with C.G. on multiple occasions and
offered the ordered services through letters, in-person meetings, text messages,
phone calls, and at a shared planning meeting. C.G. did not fully complete any
of the ordered services.
The Department petitioned for termination in August 2018. Though C.G.
never answered the petition, the termination action proceeded to a bench trial in
April 2019. C.G. failed to appear, but both she and the youth were represented
by counsel at trial. The court heard testimony from the assigned social worker,
from C.G.’s mental health counselor, and considered 25 exhibits.
The social worker testified about the entry of the dependency and
dispositional orders, the numerous times and methods she offered ordered
services to C.G., the youth being in out-of-home care for two years, and the
mother not completing the ordered services. The social worker recommended
termination because C.G. had not “mitigated or eliminated the reasons” that the
youth became dependent, and stated that it would take C.G. at least six months
-2-
No. 79885-5-1/3
to complete the ordered services. The social worker also informed that C.G.-P.
wanted to be adopted by the foster placement and had not elected to visit C.G.
since July 2018.
The mental health counselor testified to treating 0G. “very sporadically”
over the past year and a half, not recalling the last time she saw C.G., C.G. being
not in compliance with the mental health treatment plan, and being unaware of
C.G.’s urinalysis results being “positive for amphetamines” or testing as “not
human.”
On April 3, 2019, the trial court adopted the facts in the termination petition
as true and correct based on C.G.’s failure to file an answer, determined that the
Department had proved the statutory termination factors by clear, cogent, and
convincing evidence, and terminated C.G.’s parental rights.
C.G. timely appealed to this court. A panel considered the matter without
oral argument.
ANALYSIS
C.G. asserts three arguments, which we address in the order presented.
Due Process
First, C.G. contends that the trial court’s adoption of the facts in the
termination petition as “true and correct” infringed on her “rights to examine
witnesses and to receive a decision based solely on evidence introduced” at the
hearing, and “was based on hearsay that was purportedly inadmissible for the
truth of the matter asserted but nonetheless not limited in the written findings.”
-3-
No. 79885-5-1/4
In order to terminate the parent-child relationship, the Department must
first establish the six elements of RCW 13.34.180(1).~ The trial court then must
find by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that the parent is currently unfit.4
In re Welfare ofA.B., 168 Wn.2d 908, 918-19, 232 P.3d 1104 (2010). The trial
court’s findings are entitled to great deference on review and those findings will
be upheld when supported by substantial evidence.5 In re Dependency of
K.S.C., 137 Wn.2d 918, 925, 976 P.2d 113 (1999).
Here, there is no indication that the trial court admitted the termination
petition as an exhibit at trial or considered any of its content in making the
termination findings. There is no dispute that C.G. had notice of the termination
trial, that she failed to attend, that her counsel cross-examined witnesses, and
that her counsel had an opportunity to present witnesses on her behalf.
Moreover, based on our review of the record, we are satisfied that
substantial evidence supports the trial court’s determination that the Department
proved all six factors of ROW 13.34.180(1). C.G. was afforded due process
below.
~ The six elements are: (1) the child has been found to be dependent, (2)
the court has entered a dispositional order, (3) the child has been removed from
the custody of the parent for at least six months, (4) all the necessary services
have been afforded to the parent to correct the parental deficiencies, (5) there is
little likelihood of remedying the parental deficiencies, and (6) continuation of the
parent child relationship clearly diminishes the child’s prOspects of permanent
placement. ROW 13.34.180(1).
~‘ ‘‘Olear, cogent, and convincing’ means highly probable.” In re Welfare
of M.R.H., 145 Wn. App. 10, 24, 188 P.3d 510 (2008).
~ Substantial evidence is that sufficient to “persuade a fair-minded, rational
person of the truth of the declared premise.” In re Welfare of T.B., 150 Wn. App.
599, 607, 209 P.3d 497 (2009).
-4-
No. 79885-5-115
Parental Fitness
Next, C.G. argues that the Department failed to show how her alleged
substance abuse rendered her a currently unfit parent.
‘[A] parent has a due process right not to have the State terminate his or
her relationship with a natural child in the absence of an express or implied
finding that he or she, at the time of trial, is currently unfit to parent the child.”
A.B., 168 Wn.2d at 918. To meet its burden of proof in establishing a parent is
currently unfit, the Department must prove by clear, cogent, and convincing
evidence that the parent’s deficiencies prevent him or her from providing the child
with “basic nurture, health, or safety.” RCW 13.34.020.
Here, the trial court explicitly found C.G. “currently unfit to parent this
child.” In its oral ruling, the court made following unchallenged findings: (1) CC.
was not compliant with her mental health treatment, (2) CC. did not follow the
recommendations of her psychological evaluation, (3) CC. did not obtain a
substance abuse evaluation, and (4) C.G. “does not have the ability to make
good decisions to support the best interests” of the youth. These findings are
now verities. In re Dependency of M.S.R., 174 Wn.2d 1, 9, 271 P.3d 234 (2012).
The trial court’s determination was supported by clear, cogent, and convincing
evidence.
Problems Remediable in the Near Future
Lastly, C.G. challenges the trial court’s finding concerning her ability to
overcome her parenting deficiencies.
-5-
No. 79885-5-1/6
In termination proceedings, the Department must prove that there is “little
likelihood that conditions will be remedied so that the child can be returned to the
parent in the near future.” RCW 13.34.180(1 )(e). What constitutes the “near
future” depends on the child’s age and placement circumstances. In re Welfare
of C.B., 134Wn. App. 942, 954, 143 P.3d 846 (2006). The “near future” is a
short period for a child in foster care in need of a permanent placement. Id.
Here, the trial court determined that the youth’s future was a matter of
months, not years. Ample evidence supports this finding. At the time of trial, the
then 15-year-old youth had epilepsy, which was being managed by a stable
foster placement. The youth was thriving in school and desired to continue
learning, which was hindered when in C.G.’s care. Lastly, the youth wanted to
be adopted by the foster placement and desired permanence now, as opposed to
at least six months in the future. Under these circumstances, we conclude that
there was little likelihood C.G. could correct her deficiencies in a future near
enough to successfully and safely parent C.G.-P.
Affirmed.
A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in
the Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to
RCW2.06.040.
Kors~/J.
WE CONCUR:
~ ig.~ J.