In re D.L.W., 368 N.C. 835 (2016)
Held:
Reversed
- Pursuant to G.S. 7B-904(d1)(3), the trial court in an A/N/D action has the authority to order a parent to “take appropriate steps to remedy 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 children from the parent, guardian, custodian, or caretaker.” The children’s adjudication and removal in the underlying A/N/D action were based on domestic violence, a lack of consistent and adequate housing, and the parent’s inability to meet the children’s needs. Based on the court’s findings that the parents failed to appropriately budget funds, which resulted in continued instability, it was appropriate for the court order the respondent mother to create a budgeting plan.
- Findings in the TPR order that the mother failed to comply with the budgeting case plan requirement, her inability to account for where her money went, her evictions for nonpayment of rent despite having employment, her loss of employment due to being incarcerated because of a domestic violence incident, and her driving without a valid driver’s license resulting in charges demonstrate the mother’s failure to correct the conditions that led to the children’s removal and were not simply the result of being poor.
Category:
Termination of Parental RightsStage:
AdjudicationTopic:
Willfully Leaving Child in Foster Care or Other Placement