In the Matter of the Parental Rights as to D.R.H., T.V.G., and C.A.G.; Vincent L.G. and Cristan H. v. The State of Nevada Division of Child and Family Services, Department of Human Resources

Summary

The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed an order terminating the parental rights of Cristan H. and Vincent L.G. to three children. The court held that NRS 128.109(2), which creates a rebuttable presumption favoring termination after a child has spent 14 of 20 consecutive months outside the home, is constitutional under substantive due process principles. The court also held that substantial evidence supported findings of parental neglect, unfitness, failure of parental adjustment, risk of serious injury, token efforts to reunify, and that termination served the children's best interests.

Holdings

1. NRS 128.109(2) is constitutional because its rebuttable presumption favoring termination after prolonged foster-care placement is narrowly tailored to serve Nevada's compelling interest in protecting abused and neglected children and securing safe, stable, and permanent placements.
2. Substantial evidence supported the district court's findings that both parents were negligent and unfit, failed to adjust their conduct or circumstances within a reasonable time, exposed the children to a risk of serious injury, and made only token efforts to reunify.
3. Substantial evidence supported the district court's determination, by clear and convincing evidence, that terminating both parents' parental rights was in the children's best interest.

Questions Presented

1. Whether NRS 128.109(2), which creates a rebuttable presumption that termination is in a child's best interest after the child has been placed outside the home for fourteen of twenty consecutive months, violates a parent's substantive due process rights.
2. Whether clear and convincing evidence supported the statutory parental-fault grounds for termination.
3. Whether clear and convincing evidence established that termination of the parents' parental rights was in the children's best interest.

Disposition

affirmed