Summary: Adjudication of termination of parental rights is not barred by the expiration of the 6 month time limit between when the petition is filed and adjudication by §43-278, a directory statute, unless the parents are prejudiced by the delay. Termination of parental rights was appropriate when the delay did not prejudice the mother and the mother failed to protect her child from her abusive father and continued to put her children at risk by remaining in an abusive relationship.
C.P. was born to M.A. and T.P. on September 22, 1983. While they were together, T.P. regularly abused M.A. in front of their children and hit C.P. with a board, stick, belt, and his fists. At some point T.P. and M.A. permanently ended their relationship and M.A. made a report to the Omaha Police that T.P. had abducted C.P. She was advised to seek legal action to determine custody. T.P. had custody of C.P. from 1985 until this action. M.A. saw C.P. on one occasion before April 1987 and on April 13, 1988 she caught a glimpse of her in T.P’s car. She stopped visitation with C.P. because she got married. At some time before December 1987, T.P. and C.P. began residing with G.P. and her two children, J.B. (4 years old) and C.B. (18 months). T.P and G.P had another child, A.P., in May 1988. On May 19, 1988, C.B. died due to injuries sustained when T.P. threw him at J.B., including bleeding on the brain and multiple fractures in various stages of healing. The police found the rest of the children in the filthy home with abandoned food and feces on the floor. C.P. was found to be disheveled and dirty, with matted hair. Examinations revealed signs of physical abuse in the other children and C.P. reported that her father beat her. On June 2, 1988 a petition filed to terminate parental rights of T.P. and M.A. in C.P. The children were placed in foster care on June 28, 1988. The adjudication hearing was continued until the resolution of the criminal charges against T.P. An adjudication hearing was held on May 3 and 4, 1989. On May 3, 1989 M.A. filed a motion to dismiss the petition under § 43-278 because the adjudication was not held within 6 months of the file date. The court overruled the motion. The court found that C.P. was child within the meaning of § 43-247(3)(a), as a child who is abandoned by their parents or lacks proper care by reason of the fault or habits of their parents, who neglect or refuse or provide proper or necessary parental care.
The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed. The mother argued the court erred in overruling her motion to dismiss. The Court found that although § 43-278 directs that an adjudication hearing be held within 6 months, the Legislature as not directed that the case be dismissed or any other remedy that deprives the juvenile court of jurisdiction and is therefore directory, not mandatory. While a violation of the time limit may prejudice parents in some cases, M.A. has failed to show how she was prejudiced by the delay. M.A. also argues there is insufficient evidence to support termination. The Court found that M.A. failed to protect C.P. from T.P., who she knew to be violent, and rejected her argument that she was afraid of him. Additionally, M.A. has been abused by current husband, against whom child abuse reports have been substantiated. M.A. has been unwilling or unable to protect C.P. and continues to endanger her other children by remaining in abusive relationships. The Court concluded that termination was in the best interest of the child.