In re K.E.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the termination of the mother's parental rights in an abuse and neglect proceeding. The court held that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion by denying a post-adjudicatory improvement period because the mother repeatedly failed drug screens and denied the need for treatment. The court also upheld termination as permissible without a less restrictive alternative because there was no reasonable likelihood that the conditions of abuse and neglect would be substantially corrected in the near future.

Holdings

1. The circuit court did not err in denying a post-adjudicatory improvement period because the mother's repeated failure to participate in drug screening and services, positive drug tests, substance abuse during the incident underlying the petition, and denial of the need for treatment demonstrated that improvement was unlikely and that an improvement period would be futile.
2. The circuit court properly terminated the mother's parental rights without employing an intervening less restrictive alternative because it found, on ample evidence, that there was no reasonable likelihood that the conditions of abuse and neglect could be substantially corrected in the near future and that termination was necessary for the child's welfare.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court erred by terminating the mother's parental rights without granting a post-adjudicatory improvement period.
2. Whether the circuit court erred by terminating the mother's parental rights when a less restrictive alternative was allegedly available.

Disposition

affirmed