Summary
addressing whether failure to follow statutory procedures in CHINS proceeding denied a father his right to due process in the CHINS and termination proceedings
Summary of this case from In re K.DOpinion
No. 64A05-1005-JT-304.
December 7, 2010.
Appeal from the Superior Court, Mary R. Harper, J., Edward J.
Bryan M. Truitt, Bertig Associates, Valparaiso, IN, Attorney for Appellant.
John P. Shanahan, Indiana Department of Child Services, Valparaiso, IN, Robert J. Henke, DCS Central Administration, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.
OPINION
I fully agree with my colleagues conclusion that Father was denied due process during the CHINS proceeding. Indeed, I would be harsher in my criticism of the Porter County Office of Child Services and its knowing and repeated failure to provide Father with the rights due to him. That said, I do not believe that such failures deprived Father of procedural due process with respect to the termination of his parental rights.
During the termination proceeding, Father was provided with both notice and the opportunity to be heard. The trial court listened to and weighed Father's arguments, and its decision to terminate his parental rights was supported by evidence that went far beyond the clear and convincing standard. Finally, the majority's decision to reverse that decision will result in tremendous disruption to the life of the child and the only home he has known, but will not provide any corresponding benefit.
Other than sperm donation, the Father has made no contributions to the life of this child. He has no relationship with the child, has seen the child only two or three times since he was born, and has not seen him at all since July 2008. He has not contributed to the support of his child in any way. He has had a drug addiction that spans most of his adult life and has spent a significant portion of that life in prison. Indeed, if Father remains in prison until his scheduled release date in 2011, he will have spent ten of the last thirteen years in incarceration. Father's older child is under guardianship in Oklahoma. At the termination hearing, the Father presented no evidence to counter the overwhelming evidence of the Division of Child Services supporting the trial court's termination decision.
The child here has had a safe, nurturing, permanent, and drug-free home with his foster parents since he was a few weeks old. It is the only home he has known. In the absence of any evidence that the trial court's decision was erroneous, I would not disrupt that life, but would affirm the trial court in all respects.