In re: J.J.

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the termination of petitioner father J.S.’s custodial and parental rights to J.J. The court held that the child’s drug withdrawal symptoms, the father’s knowledge of the mother’s drug use during pregnancy, and the father’s failure to provide care or engage with the Department of Health and Human Resources supported adjudication as an abusing parent. The court further upheld the finding that there was no reasonable likelihood that the conditions of abuse or neglect could be substantially corrected in the near future.

Holdings

1. The child's withdrawal symptoms associated with the mother's cocaine and buprenorphine use constituted sufficient evidence supporting the abuse-and-neglect adjudication.
2. Petitioner's knowledge of the mother's drug abuse during pregnancy and failure to stop that abuse supported the circuit court's adjudication of him as an abusing parent.
3. Termination was proper because there was no reasonable likelihood that petitioner could substantially correct the conditions of abuse or neglect in the near future and termination was necessary for the child's welfare.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court properly adjudicated petitioner as an abusing parent based on the child's exposure to illegal drugs before birth, petitioner's knowledge of the mother's drug use, and his own substance-abuse-related conduct.
2. Whether the circuit court properly terminated petitioner's custodial and parental rights after finding no reasonable likelihood that the conditions of abuse or neglect could be substantially corrected in the near future and that termination was necessary for the child's welfare.
3. Whether petitioner was entitled to relief based on his claim that he had inadequate time after release from incarceration to contact the DHHR and begin services.

Disposition

affirmed