In re Tabitha R.

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a jeopardy determination and Department of Human Services custody award as to the mother of three children. It vacated the judgment as to Tiffany’s father because the trial court’s findings did not establish that Tiffany would face prospective jeopardy in his custody, and remanded for a new evidentiary hearing.

Holdings

1. The evidence, including Tabitha's testimony and corroborating evidence of the mother's drug addiction and abusive behavior, was sufficient to support a finding that the children would be in jeopardy to their health and welfare if returned to the mother's custody.
2. A finding that a parent previously failed to protect a child from jeopardy while the child was in the other parent's custody does not, by itself, establish that the child would be in jeopardy if placed in that parent's custody.
3. Because of the lapse of time and the insufficiency of the existing findings, the District Court must conduct a new evidentiary hearing rather than merely supplement the findings on the existing record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the District Court's finding that the children would be in jeopardy if returned to their mother's custody.
2. Whether the District Court's findings established that Tiffany would be in prospective jeopardy if placed in her father's custody.
3. Whether the appropriate remedy for insufficient findings concerning the father's custody was remand for a new evidentiary hearing.

Disposition

other