A comprehensive and easily accessible directory of Employee Leasing Services nationwide
help small business Attract and Retain quality employees by offering quality benefits through Employee Leasing Services
Foster an environment of fellowship and free exchange of ideas among member Employee Leasing Companies

  to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.

[T] In re Termination of Parental Rights to Justin B.

11/25/2003

. James B. appeals from an order terminating his parental rights to Justin B. and Taylor B. The trial court found in a bench trial, following James B.'s waiver of his right to a jury, that both Justin and Taylor "continue to be in the need of the protection and services of the court, pursuant to Wis. Stats. 48.415(2)," and that termination of James B.'s parental rights to the children was both warranted and in the children's best interests. He also seeks reversal of the post-termination order entered by the trial court following our remand for consideration of additional issues. See Wis. Stat. Rule 809.107(6)(am) (appellate briefs may raise issues litigated on remand); State v. Jacobus, 167 Wis. 2d 230, 233-234, 481 N.W.2d 642, 643 (Ct. App. 1992) (court of appeals has jurisdiction to consider order entered after notice of appeal has been filed if that order is the result of action taken by the trial court following remand for further proceedings).


. James B. argues that the trial court erred, contending that: (1) he "substantially complied with the conditions for return" of Justin and Taylor, and that therefore the trial court erred in finding that there were grounds to terminate his parental rights to the children; (2) the trial court misapplied the "best interests" criteria; and (3) the trial court relied on his physical disabilities as a basis to terminate his parental rights to the children, and that this was "fundamentally unfair," and also that his trial lawyer gave him ineffective representation when she did not pursue that theory before the trial court. We affirm.


I.


. The major facts in this sad case are essentially not contested, and we do not understand that James B. contends that any of the trial court's findings of fact are "clearly erroneous," which is the standard we apply to those findings. Wis. Stat. Rule 805.17(2). Briefly, Justin was born in March of 1994, and was eight years old when the trial court entered its order terminating James B.'s parental rights. Taylor was born in October of 1995, and was almost seven years old when the trial court entered its order terminating James B.'s parental rights. Both are non-marital children born to James B. and Cynthia J. At the time of the hearing, both children were taking medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. When Justin was placed in the first foster home in December of 1997, he had "fairly severe" asthma, but has "gotten better over the years." James B. was born in 1947 and was fifty-five years old when the trial court entered its order terminating his parental rights to Justin and Taylor.


. Cynthia J. has, during the children's lives, had serious drug-abuse problems together with the ancillary criminal activity and periods of incarceration that for many persons generally go hand-in-hand with illegal drug use. She has, so far, been unable to successfully eliminate illegal drugs from her life. James B., who suffers significant disabling physical infirmities as the result of back surgery, heart by-pass surgery, and a stroke, was told by the case managers for the social service agency with responsibility for implementing court-ordered services for the family that in light of Cynthia J.'s significant and severe problems with illegal drugs, the children could not be placed with him if Cynthia J. also lived there. James B. knew this. Nevertheless, Cynthia J. lived with James B. from 1998 at least through the June of 2002 hearing, except when she was incarcerated.


. The trial court found in its written findings:


28. During the period that the children have been placed in foster care, Mr. [B.] has used cocaine with Ms. [J.] and has enabled Ms. [J.] by allow

Page 1 2 3 4 5 

Wisconsin Employee Leasing Services    Employee Leasing Services


  to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.

Employee Leasing Who Is the Employer? Hiring/Firing Issues
Employee Leasing Advantage Employee Leasing Models Human Resources Management
Employee Handbooks American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Employers Practice Liability Insurance (EPL)
Employment Forms, Postings Sexual Harassment at workplace Employee Leasing vs. Temp
Administrative Services Organization (ASO) Human Resources Organization (HRO) Professional Employer Organization (PEO)
Payroll Services Human Resources Workers Compensation Codes
FDP  |   RSS Feeds  |  Articles  |  Jobs  |  Inquiries  |  Partner Websites
SiteMap  | Trading Partners  | Register  | Case LawsFAQ | Employee Leasing Forum | Employee Leasing Directory  | Success Stories
Terms of Service  Copyright © 2004. “Employee-Leasing.org ”. All rights reserved.