SUMMARY: The mother’s consistent and substantial progress in the 17 months between the filing of the termination petition and the completion of the TPR trial make it error to terminate her parental rights.
Dannie, DOB 10/30/02, was removed from her mother Michelle on April 26, 2004, after she admitted to law enforcement to using methamphetamine. The court entered an adjudication on May 24, 2004, and a dispositional hearing and several review hearings were subsequently held. From 2004 through early 2006, Michelle made little progress toward rehabilitation, having been terminated from an inpatient facility, discharged from the S.T.A.R. (Specialized Treatment and Recovery) program, and failing to consistently submit U.A.s and not consume alcohol. Since 2007, Michelle gained and maintained employment, maintained stable housing, will be receiving an associate’s degree, and has consistently attended parenting time with Dannie. A petition to terminate Michelle’s parental rights was filed on March 27, 2007, and after several bifurcated days of trial in 2007 and 2008, the court terminated her parental rights on September 11, 2008. The mother appealed.
The Court of Appeals reversed the termination of parental rights. It noted that the State’s arguments to terminate may have had more merit had they filed the petition in 2005 or 2006; however since the petition was filed in 2007 and 13 months elapsed over the course of the trial days, the evidence during that time shows substantial progress made by the mother in rehabilitating herself to achieve reunification with Dannie.