In re A.J.

Summary

The Ohio First District Court of Appeals affirmed a juvenile court judgment terminating the mother’s parental rights and granting permanent custody of A.J. to the Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services. The court held that the judgment was supported by the manifest weight of the evidence, citing the mother’s continuing substance-use issues, unstable housing, and inability to remedy the conditions leading to removal. The court also concluded that permanent custody was in A.J.’s best interest.

Holdings

1. The juvenile court's finding that A.J. could not or should not be placed with either parent was supported by the manifest weight of the evidence.
2. The juvenile court properly determined that permanent custody with HCJFS was in A.J.'s best interest.
3. The juvenile court did not clearly lose its way or create a manifest miscarriage of justice; the permanent-custody judgment was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the juvenile court's determination under R.C. 2151.414(E) that A.J. could not or should not be placed with either parent was against the manifest weight of the evidence.
2. Whether the juvenile court's determination under R.C. 2151.414(D)(1) that permanent custody with HCJFS was in A.J.'s best interest was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

Disposition

affirmed