In re N.N., _ N.C. App. _ (October 15, 2024)

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Held:

Affirmed in Part; Vacated in Part; and Remanded

Facts: The child was born prematurely and spent four months in the NICU. DSS established a safety plan with the parents after receiving a report of Father mishandling the newborn and that hospital staff had asked each parent to leave due to their failure to follow NICU protocols. DSS received a second report that Father mishandled the newborn while in the NICU after instruction on safe handling. Both parents denied mishandling the child. The child was discharged to the parents from the NICU. At a home visit five days later, the social worker observed the child as healthy and doing well. Two days after the home visit, Parents brought the child to the ER for concerns with her eating and constipation. Upon arrival to the ER the child had stopped breathing and had to be revived multiple times. Testing revealed the child had multiple severe injuries which a physician later determined were non-accidental and highly concerning for abusive head trauma resulting in a near-fatal event. Parents denied causing the child’s injuries and did not give any explanation for the injuries. DSS filed the abuse and neglect petition and obtained nonsecure custody of the child. The child was hospitalized for three months and placed in foster care upon discharge. The child was adjudicated abused and neglected. At initial disposition, the court ordered that reunification efforts were not required due to aggravating factors in G.S. 7B-901(c). Mother and Father appeal the initial disposition order. The adjudication was affirmed, summarized separately.
An appellate court reviews an initial disposition order directing that reunification efforts are not required to determine whether the court made the appropriate findings, whether the findings are based on credible evidence, and whether the findings support the court’s conclusion. Dispositional conclusions of law are reviewed for an abuse of discretion.
G.S. 7B-901(c)(1) states that if a trial court “places a juvenile in the custody of a county department of social services, the court shall direct that reasonable efforts for reunification . . . shall not be required if the court makes written findings of fact . . that aggravated circumstances exist because the parent has committed or encouraged the commission of, or allowed the continuation of . . . chronic physical or emotional abuse [upon the juvenile] . . . [or] any other act, practice, or conduct that increased the enormity or added to the injurious consequences of the abuse or neglect.” Chronic abuse is not defined by G.S. Chapter 7B but is commonly defined as “lasting a long time or recurring often.” Sl. Op. at 20 (citation omitted). To find an aggravated circumstance of conduct that increased the enormity of the injurious consequences of the abuse or neglect, there must be evidence “in addition to the facts that [give] rise to the initial adjudication of abuse and/or neglect.” Sl. Op. at 22 (citation omitted) (emphasis in original).
Findings do not support the conclusion that aggravating circumstances exist based on the chronic physical or emotional abuse of the child. No findings indicate the child was subject to recurring acts of physical abuse or abuse lasting over a long period of time. Findings show a severe incident of physical abuse where testing revealed skull fractures and brain and spinal bleeding, among other injuries, but no healed injuries were revealed that would indicate the child suffered injuries on multiple occasions. While there were two reports of the parents mishandling the infant in the NICU, there are no findings of injuries during that time and the child was discharged to the parents from the NICU.
Findings do not support the conclusion that parents’ conduct increased the enormity or added to the injurious consequences of the child’s abuse and neglect, which must be based on something other than what led to the adjudication. The evidence and findings of the child’s serious and life-threatening injuries, subsequent hospitalization and medical needs all arise from the same facts that support the abuse and neglect adjudications.
Portions of the disposition order directing that reasonable efforts for reunification are not required are vacated and remanded to the trial court to enter appropriate findings addressing whether efforts to reunify parents with the child are required under G.S. 7B-901(c). The court of appeals notes that there is sufficient evidence in the record to support a determination that reunification efforts are not required because the parent has committed a felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury to the child under G.S. 7B-901(c)(3)(iii), as both parents had pending felony child abuse charges at the time of the dispositional hearing.