SUMMARY: Termination of a mother’s parental rights was in the children’s best interest where there was evidence of the mother’s debauchery and habitual drug use, even though the court erred in allowing evidence of mental deficiency when there was no allegation of a mother’s mental deficiency.
On July 24, 1996, the State filed an amended petition as to Michael Jr. (DOB 5/29/1990), James (DOB 6/23/1991) and Jeremiah (DOB 5/7/1993) alleging that their mother, Patricia, had physically abused the children. The children were adjudicated on September 18, 1996 after Patricia admitted the allegations in the petition. The State filed a supplemental petition seeking termination of Patricia’s parental rights on December 8, 1997 due to her repeated neglect, debauchery, habitual drug use, lewd and lascivious behavior, that reasonable efforts had failed to correct the conditions leading to the adjudication, and that the children had been in an out-of-home placement for more than 18 months. At the termination hearing, an expert witness testified that Patricia had possible borderline intelligence and a personality disorder and was not capable of acquiring adequate parenting skills. A second expert witness testified that Patricia had a poor prognosis for being able to parent her children due to her intellectual limitations. Other witnesses testified that Patricia allowed her children to have access to adult videos and magazines, exposed them to lewd and lascivious behavior, and smoked marijuana and drank alcohol in the house. The juvenile court found that Patricia had repeatedly neglected her children, was unfit to parent due to her lewd and lascivious behavior, that reasonable efforts had failed to correct the conditions, and the children had been in an out-of-home placement for more than 18 months; in addition, the juvenile court also found that the State had shown by clear and convincing evidence that Patricia had a mental deficiency that would prevent her from reuniting with and caring for her children. The juvenile court terminated Patricia’s parental rights.
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that it was improper for the State to put forth evidence of Patricia’s mental deficiency because the State did not allege mental deficiency in its petition to terminate Patricia’s parental rights. However, the State had put forth clear and convincing evidence independent of any mental deficiency that Patricia was an unfit parent by reason of debauchery, habitual drug use, or repeated lewd and lascivious behavior. Termination of Patricia’s parental rights was in the children’s best interests because the children had been in foster care over two years and intensive rehabilitation services had failed to improve her parenting skills. The children all had mental problems and had been victimized by neglect and physical abuse. Therefore, termination of Patricia’s parental rights was warranted.