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In re Welfare of H.S.3/9/1999
The Washington juvenile dependency statutory scheme permits termination of parental rights for deficiencies that are manifestations of chronic mental illness. B.S. and L.S. appeal the termination of their parental rights; both suffer from chronic mental illness. Their child H.S., now six years old, was removed from their home under an agreed order of dependency at the age of three months. The State sought termination when she was still in foster care after three and a half years. The court was persuaded that B.S. and L.S. unquestionably love H.S. But despite their best and sincerest efforts to resolve their parental deficiencies, B.S. and L.S. remained incapable of meeting the child's needs. They were unlikely to benefit from further services. And the child's need for a stable and permanent home required an end to the dependency.
In challenging whether clear, cogent and convincing evidence supports the court's findings of fact, B.S. and L.S. contend that necessary services failed to accommodate their handicap and their parental rights were terminated solely because of their disability, in violation of state and federal handicap-discrimination statutes. They also direct several due process challenges to basing the termination on facts different than those in the original dependency. First, they contend that RCW 13.34.180(5)(b), which permits consideration of chronic, severe mental illness in termination proceedings, is unconstitutionally vague as applied. Second, they contend they were effectively deprived of notice of the State's allegations, and that the burden of proof was shifted by requiring them to prove that undefined "conditions" had improved. Finally, they contend that secondary interests of the child were erroneously given precedence over their primary constitutional parental rights.
Clear, cogent and convincing evidence supports the requisite statutory elements, so we affirm the decision of the court.
FACTS
H.S. was born on November 25, 1992. When she was three weeks old, her parents requested that she be placed in voluntary care, and in March 1993 she was placed in shelter care. She was made dependent in May 1993 as to B.S., and in June 1993 as to L.S. H.S. has not lived with her parents since that time. H.S. was placed in foster care with B.S.'s cousins, where she remains. They offer H.S. a permanent home.
B.S. and L.S. both suffer from chronic mental illness. Both were hospitalized with acute symptoms in October 1992, right before H.S.'s birth. L.S. is diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic, and B.S. has been treated for severe depression. L.S. was hospitalized again shortly after H.S. was born. Both parents are currently diagnosed with schizophrenia, although L.S. disputes her diagnosis. Both parents are presently stabilized on medication as to acute symptoms.
The dependency arose primarily from concerns about lack of parent-child bonding and the baby's failure to thrive. The dependency court found there was no parent capable of providing adequate care. The underlying findings were that L.S.'s rigid and obsessive thinking endangered the baby's health, her thinking was confused, and she could not respond to questions about the baby's daily care. She was uncooperative and resistant to support. The baby was below the fifth weight-for-length percentile. L.S. also experienced, but did not act on, strong sexual urges toward the infant. The records of the final dependency review and termination hearings contain exhaustive expert testimony that the problems giving rise to the dependency remain unresolved.
Ongoing problems include B.S.'s and L.S.'s inability to handle the stress of H.S.'s visits; rigid and con
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