In re B.L.M.-S., ___ N.C. App. ___ (May 21, 2024)
Held:
Affirmed in Part
Remanded
There is a dissent
in part by Tyson, J.
- Facts: Infant was adjudicated abused and neglected based on findings of two broken ribs that occurred on separate occasions while in the sole care of Father and Mother, Father’s frequent shaking and squeezing the child when the child was crying, and the child’s exposure to domestic violence between Father and Mother. The initial disposition order placed the child with their maternal grandparents. The order concluded that reasonable efforts to reunify the child with Father were not required based on aggravating circumstances of chronic physical abuse of the child, ordered Father not to contact Mother, and ordered supervised visitation for Mother with the child. Father appealed. This summary addresses Father’s argument that the court exceeded its authority to order Father to have no contact with Mother.
- Dispositional orders are reviewed for an abuse of discretion.
- G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3) authorizes the court to order the parent of a child who has been adjudicated abused, neglected, or dependent to “[t]ake appropriate steps to remedy the conditions in the home that led to or contributed to the juvenile’s adjudication or to the court’s decision to remove custody of the juvenile from the parent[.]” Sl. Op. at 11, quoting G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3). The court has the “‘authority to order a parent to take any step reasonably required to alleviate any condition that directly or indirectly contributed to causing the juvenile’s removal from the parental home,’ In re B.O.A., 372 N.C. 372, 381 (2019) (emphasis added), as long as there is ‘a nexus between the step ordered by the court and a condition that is found or alleged to have led to or contributed to the adjudication.’ ” In re T.N.G., 244 N.C. App. 398, 408 (2015) (citation omitted). Sl. Op. at 11.
- The directive that Father have no contact with Mother was within the authority of the court under G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3) and was not an abuse of discretion. Several adjudicatory findings of fact describe domestic violence between Mother and Father, including initial reports to DSS about the family, a Military Protective Order that barred Father from contacting Mother or the child, and Mother’s disclosures to DSS about Father’s rough handling of the child and refusal to let the Mother take the child during those times. Father and Mother’s domestic violence was a condition that was found to have contributed to the child’s adjudication.
- Dissent: The majority’s interpretation of G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3) is too expansive to protect Father’s parental and marital rights. The legislature did not intend and the plain language of G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3) does not allow the court sua sponte to enter a de facto domestic violence protective order and circumvent the statutory procedures in G.S. Chapters 50B and 50C.
Category:
Abuse, Neglect, DependencyStage:
Disposition (All Stages Post-Adjudication)Topic:
Court Authority to Order Case Plan