In re T.R.

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed an order terminating the petitioner mother's parental rights to T.R. The court held that the Department of Health and Human Resources had considered the maternal grandparents as a potential relative placement and that the omission of specific relative-placement information from the case plan did not substantially disregard or frustrate applicable abuse and neglect procedures.

Holdings

1. The record did not support petitioner's claim that the DHHR failed to consider the maternal grandparents; the DHHR had considered them and found them unsuitable based on the circumstances of their residence and relationship with petitioner.
2. Although the DHHR failed to include in the case plan the relatives contacted for suitable placement as required by Rule 28(c)(2), the omission did not substantially disregard or frustrate the applicable abuse and neglect statutes and rules; therefore, the circuit court did not reversibly err by proceeding to disposition.
3. Legal conclusions are reviewed de novo, while factual findings are reviewed for clear error and credibility determinations are left primarily to the circuit court.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court erred by proceeding to disposition when the DHHR's case plan did not specifically identify the maternal grandparents as relatives contacted for potential placement.
2. Whether the DHHR's failure to include specific relative-placement information in the case plan substantially disregarded or frustrated the child abuse and neglect statutes and rules so as to require vacatur and remand.

Disposition

affirmed