In re H.J., D.J., and A.J.-1

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the termination of a mother's parental rights to three children. The court held that the evidence supported adjudication based on persistent untreated mental-health and substance-abuse issues and aggravated circumstances arising from a prior involuntary termination of parental rights. The court also concluded that requiring the mother to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, her likelihood of fully participating in an improvement period did not improperly shift the burden of proof.

Holdings

1. The circuit court did not err in adjudicating the children as neglected or terminating Mother's parental rights because the breastfeeding allegation was not dispositive in light of the aggravated-circumstances allegation and Mother's admission that persistent untreated mental-health and substance-abuse issues impaired her ability to parent.
2. The circuit court did not improperly shift the DHHR's burden of proof because the finding that Mother failed to prove that she would fully participate in an improvement period concerned her eligibility for discretionary remedial relief, not the DHHR's burden to prove neglect or grounds for termination.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the DHHR presented sufficient evidence to support adjudication of the children as neglected and termination of Mother's parental rights, where Mother disputed the evidence that she breastfed A.J.-1 while using drugs.
2. Whether the circuit court improperly shifted the burden of proof to Mother by finding that she failed to establish that she would fully participate in an improvement period.

Disposition

affirmed