SUMMARY: Evidence that the mother was diagnosed with mild mental retardation, her condition was unlikely to improve, and the child had special needs was sufficient to support a termination of the mother’s parental rights, despite evidence that the mother loved the child.
Ashe (DOB 1/2003) was removed from his mother’s, Tracy, home on January 29, 2010 due to the home’s filthy condition. The State moved to terminate Tracy’s parental rights to Ashe on February 1, 2012. At the termination hearing on May 15 and 21, evidence was introduced that Tracy suffered from mild mental retardation, a depressive disorder, and mild cognitive impairment that was worsened by a traumatic brain injury she incurred in 2002. Tracy’s therapist testified that Tracy had difficulty in day to day activities such as keeping her house clean and paying her bills on time. Tracy did not consistently attend therapy or take medication to control her disorder. Though Tracy did exhibit affectionate and appropriate behaviors toward Ashe during visitation, she would behave erratically towards visitation aides and the visitation never permanently progressed beyond supervised visits once a week. In addition, Ashe was diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder; his behavior improved with his foster parents due to a consistent routine. Ashe’s behavior regressed when Ashe lived with his father and was also worse after visitation with Tracy. Tracy’s parental rights were terminated following the hearing.
The Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed the termination of parental rights. The Court noted that though Tracy clearly loved her son, she did not have the ability to parent for a child with special needs due to her mental illness and mental deficiency. Tracy’s condition had not improved at all in the two years since Ashe was removed from her home and Tracy and never made any measurable progress toward reunification. Because Ashe had his own special needs, he required consistency in his life, and thus termination of Tracy’s parental rights was proper.