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Dane County Department of Human Services v. Lisa B.2/1/2001
APPEAL from an order of the circuit court for Dane County: MARYANN SUMI, Judge. Affirmed.
. Lisa B. appeals an order terminating her parental rights to her nine-year-old son, Glenn. She claims that her "First Amendment and due process constitutional rights" were violated "when the child was placed in a non-Jewish home and made to attend Christian Sunday School." She also argues that she was not properly warned that her felony conviction for child abuse could be a ground for termination of her parental rights; that the trial court erred in certain evidentiary rulings and in denying her claims of privilege regarding a deposition and the release of Glenn's medical records; and that proceedings in the trial court did not comply with mandatory termination of parental rights (TPR) time limits. We reject all of Lisa's arguments and affirm the TPR order.
BACKGROUND
. A jury found that Glenn was in "continuing need of protection or services" under Wis. Stat. § 48.415(2). Specifically, the jury concluded that Glenn had been adjudged to be a child in need of protection or services (CHIPS) and placed outside Lisa's home for six months or longer; that the Dane County Department of Human Services had made reasonable efforts to provide court-ordered services; that Lisa had failed to meet the conditions established for the safe return of Glenn to her home; and that there was a substantial likelihood that she would not meet those conditions within the twelve months following trial. The jury also found that grounds for TPR existed under § 48.415(5), in that Lisa had exhibited a pattern of physically abusive behavior which constituted a substantial threat to Glenn's health, and that Lisa had been convicted of a felony for causing injury to a child.
. The department's social worker and Glenn's guardian ad litem both recommended that the court terminate Lisa's parental rights, stating that a TPR would be in Glenn's best interest. The trial court, after considering the factors set forth in Wis. Stat. § 48.426, agreed and ordered Lisa's rights terminated. She appeals the subsequent order terminating her rights.
ANALYSIS
. Lisa devotes the first twenty pages of argument in her brief to a discussion of what she apparently believes to be the salient issue in this case: whether her "First Amendment and due process constitutional rights" were violated because during the time that Glenn was in county foster care, he was taken by foster parents to Christian Sunday Schools, despite Lisa's request that he attend Jewish services. We agree with the department, however, that not only was this issue not raised in the trial court, but Lisa has not articulated how her First Amendment claim translates into reversible error with respect to the TPR proceedings. In her reply brief, Lisa asserts that there were "sub-attitudes toward Lisa B. [relating to her Jewish heritage] that were clearly wrong and inappropriate." She provides no citations to the record, however, to substantiate what appears to be a claim of religious discrimination. Lisa also attributes the failure to raise the issue in the trial court to her appointed counsel in the TPR and CHIPS proceedings. She does not, however, raise or argue a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See A.S. v. State, 168 Wis. 2d 995, 1004, 485 N.W.2d 52 (1992) (holding that a parent has a statutory right to effective assistance of counsel in TPR proceedings).
. Even though we deem it waived, we comment briefly on why we also conclude that Lisa's claim of constitutional error lacks merit. Lisa summarizes the argument in her reply brief as follows: "It is unconscionable for the government to take a child when the m
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