Summary
This Ohio Court of Appeals decision reviews a juvenile court's order terminating both parents' parental rights and awarding permanent custody of a minor child to the county children services board. The father appealed, arguing the decision was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that legal custody should have been granted to the child's grandmother. The appellate court affirmed the trial court's judgment, finding clear and convincing evidence that neither parent could provide a safe and stable home, and that permanent custody with the agency was in the child's best interest given her need for permanency and established bonds with her siblings and current foster caregiver.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the juvenile court's termination of parental rights and award of permanent custody to CSB was against the manifest weight of the evidence.
- Whether the juvenile court erred in denying Father's motion for legal custody of B.M. to the paternal grandmother.
Holdings
- The juvenile court's judgment was not against the manifest weight of the evidence; the judgment is affirmed.
- The denial of Father's motion for legal custody to Grandmother was not erroneous.
Key quotations
“We order that a special mandate issue out of this Court, directing the Court of Common Pleas, County of Summit, State of Ohio, to carry this judgment into execution.” (¶34)
“In considering whether the juvenile court’s judgment is against the manifest weight of the evidence, this Court “weighs the evidence and all reasonable inferences, considers the credibility of witnesses and determines whether in resolving conflicts in the evidence, the [finder of fact] clearly lost its way and created such a manifest miscarriage of justice that the [judgment] must be reversed and a new [hearing] ordered.”” (¶12‑¶13)
Factual background
Father and Mother, divorced biological parents of B.M., were involved with the Summit County Children Services Board (CSB) after allegations of abuse and neglect. B.M. spent over two years in CSB's temporary custody, moving among foster, kinship, and the paternal grandmother's home. Both parents waived hearings and later the juvenile court terminated their parental rights, awarding permanent custody to CSB.
Procedural history
The juvenile court placed B.M. in temporary custody, later moved to permanent custody after finding clear and convincing evidence that neither parent could provide a safe home. Both parents appealed, challenging the manifest weight of the evidence and the denial of a motion for legal custody to the paternal grandmother.
Remand instructions
A special mandate shall be issued directing the Summit County Court of Common Pleas to carry the judgment into execution.