In re N.T.U., 234 N.C. App. 722 (2014)
Held:
Affirmed
- Findings support the court's conclusion that the respondent mother was incapable of providing proper care and supervision to her child due to her incarceration as she had been in jail awaiting her trial for the two years the child had been in department custody and still had no trial date. There was a reasonable probability her inability to provide care and supervision was likely to continue into the foreseeable future. A reasonable probability that the parent’s incapability of proving proper care and supervision will continue for the foreseeable future does not require the court to find the incapability will last until a date certain or for a specific duration.
- The three proposed alternative child care placements were unsuitable resulting in the lack of an appropriate alternative child care placement. One placement was approved by a home study but the court did not approve the placement based on the finding that the proposed relative demonstrated a lack of interest in being a placement option by declining opportunities to get to know the child through visitation and the DSS worker's observation of the relative physically disciplining a cousin. The second placement was initially approved by DSS, but the court ultimately determined he was not appropriate because he had been subsequently incarcerated and his own children were involved in a child protective action.The third placement was not approved because of prior drug conviction and concerns about housing.
Category:
Termination of Parental RightsStage:
AdjudicationTopic:
Dependency