In re Ja'maire M. ( 2020 )


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    beginning of this opinion is the date the opinion was
    released as a slip opinion. The operative date for the
    beginning of all time periods for filing postopinion
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    Connecticut Law Journal.
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    IN RE JA’MAIRE M.*
    (AC 43710)
    Lavine, Alvord and Cradle, Js.
    Syllabus
    The respondent father appealed to this court from the judgment of the trial
    court terminating his parental rights with respect to his minor child.
    The child had previously been adjudicated neglected, but the father was
    not a party to the neglect petition filed by the petitioner, the Commis-
    sioner of Children and Families, and did not participate in the neglect
    proceeding because the mother claimed another man was the father of
    the child. Following the results of a paternity test, the trial court joined
    the father into the case and, thereafter, the trial court ordered specific
    steps for the father and the Department of Children and Families
    amended its permanency plan to focus on reunification with the father.
    The father did not fulfill the court-ordered steps and subsequently, the
    petitioner sought termination of the father’s parental rights pursuant to
    statute (§ 17a-112), which the trial court granted. On appeal, the father
    claimed that the trial court erred by predicating its termination of paren-
    tal rights judgment on the prior neglect adjudication, which he claimed
    was rendered improperly because the child was adjudicated neglected
    in his absence and he had no opportunity to plead. Held that the trial
    court did not err in terminating the respondent father’s parental rights
    by relying on a finding that the child was neglected, which was made
    at a previous proceeding at which the father was not a party, as the
    father’s unpreserved claim was an impermissible collateral attack on a
    validly rendered final judgment of neglect; the father’s absence from
    the neglect proceeding did not deprive him of any due process because,
    although the father was immediately joined into the case and advised
    of the remedies available to him to contest the neglect adjudication,
    the father acquiesced in the judgment of neglect and did not at any time
    avail himself of the avenues to challenge it, by filing a motion to open
    the judgment or to revoke commitment, and the important public policy
    interests inherent in juvenile cases reinforced the need for timely resolu-
    tions of disputed issues; furthermore, the department attempted to work
    with the father with the goal of reunification through satisfaction of
    court-ordered specific steps, but the father failed to fully meet the criteria
    in the specific steps and then failed to appear both at his plea date and
    at the termination of parental rights trial.
    Argued September 8—officially released November 20, 2020**
    Procedural History
    Petition by the Commissioner of Children and Fami-
    lies to terminate the respondents’ parental rights with
    respect to their minor child, brought to the Superior
    Court in the judicial district of New Haven, Juvenile
    Matters, and tried to the court, Marcus, J.; judgment
    terminating the respondents’ parental rights, from
    which the respondent father appealed to this court.
    Affirmed.
    Albert J. Oneto IV, assigned counsel, for the appellant
    (respondent father).
    Seon Bagot, assistant attorney general, with whom,
    on the brief, were William Tong, attorney general, and
    Benjamin Zivyon, assistant attorney general, for the
    appellee (petitioner).
    Opinion
    LAVINE, J. The respondent father, Randy F., appeals
    from the judgment of the trial court terminating his
    parental rights with respect to his minor child pursuant
    to General Statutes § 17a-112 (j). On appeal, the respon-
    dent claims that, in terminating his parental rights, the
    trial court improperly relied on a finding that the child
    was neglected, which was made at a previous proceed-
    ing at which the respondent was not present.1 Because
    the respondent’s appeal constitutes an impermissible
    collateral attack on the neglect judgment, we affirm the
    judgment of the trial court terminating his parental
    rights.
    The following facts and procedural history set forth
    in the court’s memorandum of decision and the record
    are relevant to this appeal. The child was born in
    November, 2016, to the respondent and E, the child’s
    mother. E indicated to agents of the Department of
    Children and Families (department) that the man with
    whom the child was living, J, was his biological father.
    In August, 2017, when the child was nine months old, a
    department investigation into the child’s circumstances
    resulted in an adjudication that the child was neglected.
    Prior to the neglect proceeding, on August 10, 2017,
    the department received a report that the child had been
    admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital for emergency
    medical treatment. E’s whereabouts were unknown and
    the putative father, J, who was not named on the child’s
    birth certificate, lacked medical decision-making
    authority. After investigating the child’s circumstances
    and instituting a ninety-six hour hold on the child, the
    petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families
    (commissioner),2 obtained temporary custody of the
    child and filed a neglect petition.
    On October 19, 2017, the court held a hearing to
    address the commissioner’s neglect petition. The court
    dismissed J from the case on the basis of a department
    ordered paternity test, which established that he was
    not, in fact, the child’s biological father. E testified that
    the respondent was the child’s father. She entered a
    plea of nolo contendere to the neglect petition, which
    the court accepted. Finding that the child was neglected
    and had been permitted to live in conditions injurious
    to his well-being, the court determined on the record
    that it was in the best interest of the child for him to
    be committed to the custody of the commissioner. The
    court thus adjudicated the child neglected at the Octo-
    ber 19, 2017 hearing and committed him to the custody
    of the commissioner pending further order of the court.
    After the neglect adjudication, the commissioner moved
    to cite the respondent into the case as a party on Octo-
    ber 27, 2017. The court granted the motion. The commis-
    sioner filed a petition seeking commitment of the child
    to the commissioner’s custody, and, after efforts to
    locate the respondent were unavailing, the department
    gave notice by publication in the New Haven Register.
    On December 28, 2017, the department and the
    respondent appeared before the court for a hearing on
    the respondent’s status. The court informed the respon-
    dent that the child had been adjudicated neglected and
    was in the care of the department. The court also
    informed the respondent that ‘‘[y]ou have the right to
    have a hearing moving forward on any future changes
    in the case. . . . Your lawyer is the one you need to
    talk to about the case. . . . You have a right to have
    any dispositional hearing at this point as to the issue
    of neglect and then on any new petitions that may be
    forthcoming in the future. You understand your rights
    I’ve just explained them to you?’’ The respondent
    replied in the affirmative. Subsequently that day, the
    court appointed an attorney for the respondent. The
    court ordered a paternity test pursuant to the commis-
    sioner’s outstanding motion.
    On April 10, 2018, the court found, on the basis of
    the paternity test, that the respondent was, in fact, the
    child’s father. A permanency plan hearing was held on
    June 28, 2018, before the court, at which the commis-
    sioner proposed termination of parental rights and
    adoption. The respondent objected. Subsequently, in
    July, 2018, the commissioner moved to amend the per-
    manency plan with a new focus on reunification and
    to order specific steps for the respondent. The court
    granted the commissioner’s motion on August 2, 2018,
    and ordered specific steps for the respondent.3
    The department took measures to facilitate visitation
    between the child and the respondent pursuant to the
    permanency plans and specific steps, but the respon-
    dent failed to satisfy the specific steps set out for him.
    As a result, following a preliminary hearing, the commis-
    sioner filed a petition on July 1, 2019, seeking the termi-
    nation of the respondent’s parental rights pursuant to
    § 17a-112. The commissioner alleged that the child had
    been found in a prior proceeding to have been
    neglected, that the father had failed to achieve a suffi-
    cient degree of personal rehabilitation as would encour-
    age the belief that, within a reasonable time, considering
    the age and the needs of the child, he could assume a
    responsible position in the child’s life, and that it was
    in the child’s best interest for the respondent’s parental
    rights to be terminated. In its social study, the depart-
    ment detailed the reasonable efforts it had made to
    reunify the child with the respondent.4
    The respondent defaulted on the commissioner’s peti-
    tion for the termination of his parental rights. Following
    abode service on July 10, 2019, the respondent failed
    to appear on his plea date of July 30, 2019. The court
    scheduled a trial for September 5, 2019, to consider the
    termination of parental rights petition. The respondent
    failed to attend the trial. At trial, James Roth, a social
    worker for the department, testified as to the depart-
    ment’s repeated efforts to reach the respondent. Roth
    characterized the respondent’s progress as follows: ‘‘As
    far as [the] father, he would take about a step forward
    and twenty steps back. He would go to these fatherhood
    programs and then the next thing you know he would
    be arrested for a larceny or he would all of a sudden
    not show up or not show up to a visit and then—so he
    showed very minimal progress up until now, which has
    been no progress at all.’’ Roth testified that he did not
    see any improvement from either parent and that the
    respondent had not demonstrated any stability. Roth
    opined that termination of parental rights and adoption
    were in the child’s best interest.
    On November 7, 2019, the court signed a transcript
    of its September 9, 2019 oral decision terminating the
    respondent’s paternal rights pursuant to § 17a-112 (j)
    (3) (B) (i). In the adjudicative portion of its decision,
    the court found that ‘‘the child has been found in a
    prior proceeding to have been neglected or uncared
    for.’’ The court found that the department had made
    reasonable efforts to reunify the respondent and the
    child through visits and counseling services, but ‘‘[t]he
    [respondent] is also unable or unwilling to benefit from
    those reunification efforts.’’5 The court further found,
    by clear and convincing evidence, that the respondent
    had failed to achieve such a degree of personal rehabili-
    tation as would encourage the belief that, within a rea-
    sonable time, considering the age and the needs of the
    child, he could assume a responsible position in the
    child’s life. Finally, the court found that the respondent
    did not appear in the termination of parental rights
    case, despite having been notified by both Roth and
    the department during its last contact with the respon-
    dent in early August, 2019.
    In the dispositional portion of its decision, the court
    considered and made findings as to each of the seven
    factors in § 17-112 (k) on the basis of clear and convinc-
    ing evidence. The court found that the department had
    made reasonable efforts to reunify the child and the
    respondent, had complied with all court orders, and had
    timely offered the respondent ‘‘services in accordance
    with the specific steps,’’ but that the respondent ‘‘did
    not successfully engage in any services offered to [him]
    and failed to comply with [his] specific steps.’’ The court
    found that providing additional time for the respondent
    to rehabilitate would be unavailing because the respon-
    dent had not made sufficient efforts ‘‘to adjust [his]
    situation in order to parent [the child],’’ or ‘‘to conform
    [his] conduct to even minimally acceptable parental
    standards.’’ The court concluded that termination of
    the respondent’s parental rights as to the child would
    serve the best interest of the child, and appointed the
    commissioner as statutory parent. This appeal
    followed.
    On appeal, the respondent claims that the trial court
    erred by predicating its judgment terminating his paren-
    tal rights as to the child on the prior neglect adjudica-
    tion, which he contends was entered improperly. Specif-
    ically, he objects to the fact that the underlying neglect
    proceeding took place in his absence, as he first
    appeared in the case as a party more than two months
    later. He argues that because § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i)
    requires a finding that the child ‘‘has been found by the
    Superior Court . . . to have been neglected, abused or
    uncared for in a prior proceeding’’ and because he was
    denied an opportunity to participate or plead in
    response to the prior neglect proceeding, the neglect
    adjudication was invalid and that the trial court erred
    by relying on it as a predicate for its judgment terminat-
    ing his parental rights as to the child. The respondent
    has not otherwise challenged the court’s termination
    of his parental rights or its factual underpinnings.
    In response, the commissioner argues that the
    respondent’s appeal is unreviewable because it consti-
    tutes an impermissible collateral attack on the underly-
    ing neglect judgment. The commissioner contends that
    the appeal effectively targets a previous final judgment,
    and because the neglect judgment was rendered validly
    and the respondent failed to capitalize on avenues avail-
    able to him to challenge it, he cannot now attack it
    collaterally. We agree with the commissioner that the
    respondent’s appeal is an impermissible collateral
    attack on the validly rendered neglect judgment, which,
    as noted, was rendered before the respondent’s pater-
    nity had even been established.
    We begin our analysis by setting forth the relevant
    legal principles and applicable standard of review. ‘‘[A]
    claim that a trial court may not reconsider the issue of
    neglect during a termination of parental rights proceed-
    ing presents a mixed question of fact and law because
    it involves the application of factual determinations to
    the statutory scheme for the protection of the well-
    being of children. In such circumstances, an appellate
    court employs the de novo standard of review.’’ In re
    Stephen M., 
    109 Conn. App. 644
    , 658, 
    953 A.2d 668
    (2008). We will not, however, review claims that are
    collateral attacks on prior judgments. With regard to
    the statutory scheme set forth in § 17a-112, the child’s
    need for stability places an emphasis on the need for
    litigants to follow proper procedural avenues in order
    to obtain review. See In re Shamika F., 
    256 Conn. 383
    ,
    406–407, 
    773 A.2d 347
     (2001) (permitting late collateral
    attack would be procedurally impermissible because it
    would ‘‘interfere seriously with [children’s] ability to
    experience any kind of family stability with either a
    biological or a foster family’’ and undermine ‘‘the pur-
    pose of the collateral attack rule as well as the goal of
    our state agencies in protecting the neglected children
    of Connecticut’’).
    Section 17a-112 (j) provides, as one of its threshold
    statutory grounds, that ‘‘[t]he Superior Court . . . may
    grant a petition filed pursuant to this section if it finds
    by clear and convincing evidence that . . . (3) . . .
    (B) the child (i) has been found by the Superior Court
    or the Probate Court to have been neglected, abused
    or uncared for in a prior proceeding . . . and the par-
    ent of such child has been provided specific steps to
    take to facilitate the return of the child to the parent
    . . . and has failed to achieve such degree of personal
    rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within
    a reasonable time, considering the age and needs of
    the child, such parent could assume a responsible posi-
    tion in the life of the child . . . .’’6
    ‘‘A neglect petition and a petition for the termination
    of parental rights present distinct and separate claims.’’
    In re Stephen M., 
    supra,
     
    109 Conn. App. 657
     n.21. A
    judgment finding that a child is neglected is an immedi-
    ately appealable final judgment; 
    id., 665
    ; and as a final
    judgment, it must be challenged via direct appeal. As
    a key principle, ‘‘[i]f no appeal is filed in a timely fashion,
    the parents may not collaterally attack those findings
    during a termination of parental rights trial, and the trial
    court adjudicating the termination of parental rights is
    bound by the findings made in the prior proceeding.’’
    
    Id.
     ‘‘[O]ur child welfare laws are designed in such a way
    that subsequent proceedings are predicated on findings
    made and orders issued in prior proceedings.’’ 
    Id., 663
    .
    In a termination of parental rights trial, ‘‘the issue to
    be litigated with respect to [a parent’s] failure to achieve
    personal rehabilitation . . . is whether the respondent
    . . . can be restored to a constructive useful role as a
    parent within a reasonable time considering the age
    and needs of the child . . . . ’’ (Citations omitted.) 
    Id.,
    665 n.25. The public policy interests inherent in juvenile
    cases reinforce this need for timely resolutions of dis-
    puted issues. See In re Shamika F., supra, 
    256 Conn. 406
    –407; see also In re Jonathan M., 
    255 Conn. 208
    ,
    231, 
    764 A.2d 739
     (2001) (‘‘as parens patriae, the state
    is also interested in the accurate and speedy resolution
    of termination litigation in order to promote the welfare
    of the affected child’’); In re Stephen M., 
    supra, 664
    (‘‘[t]he best interests of the children, especially their
    interests in family stability and permanency, support
    the conclusion that findings in earlier child welfare
    proceedings cannot be attacked collaterally in later pro-
    ceedings’’). Because the judgment of neglect is a final
    judgment, ‘‘under § 17a-112 (j) (B) (i), the petitioner
    did not have to prove at the termination hearing that
    the [child was] neglected but only that the [child] had
    been found to be neglected in a prior proceeding.’’7
    (Emphasis added.) Id., 659.
    The respondent argues that the neglect adjudication
    could not be relied on to satisfy the requirements of
    § 17a-112 (j) (3) (B) (i) because the child was adjudi-
    cated neglected in his absence and he had no opportu-
    nity to plead. He argues that he was entitled to be a
    party to the proceeding, even though his paternity had
    not yet been established. He further argues that because
    he was not made a party and ‘‘[a]t no time did the court
    . . . canvass him about whether he wished to contest
    the existing neglect adjudication,’’ the commissioner
    cannot use the judgment of neglect against him in a
    subsequent termination proceeding. We disagree that
    there was any due process violation in the respondent’s
    case. The respondent’s claim is unavailing because his
    paternity was not established until after the neglect
    proceeding, at which time he was immediately joined
    into the case and was advised of the remedies available
    to him to contest the neglect adjudication, but he failed
    to take advantage of any of them. Acceptance of his
    argument would permit a collateral attack on a valid
    final judgment and would undermine important pub-
    lic policy.
    A finding that a child is neglected is not a finding of
    fault against the parent but a fact relating to the status
    of the child. See In re T.K., 
    105 Conn. App. 502
    , 505–506,
    
    939 A.2d 9
    , cert. denied, 
    286 Conn. 914
    , 
    945 A.2d 976
    (2008) (‘‘[A]n adjudication of neglect relates to the sta-
    tus of the child . . . . Although [General Statutes]
    § 46b-129 requires both parents to be named in the
    petition, the adjudication of neglect is not a judgment
    that runs against a person or persons so named in the
    petition; [i]t is not directed against them as parents,
    but rather is a finding that the children are neglected
    . . . .’’ (Emphasis omitted; internal quotation marks
    omitted.)); see also In re Zamora S., 
    123 Conn. App. 103
    , 110, 
    998 A.2d 1279
     (2010) (‘‘[a] neglect petition is
    sui generis and, unlike a complaint and answer in the
    usual civil case, does not lead to a judgment for or
    against the parties named’’ (internal quotation marks
    omitted)); In re David L., 
    54 Conn. App. 185
    , 193, 
    733 A.2d 897
     (1999) (‘‘[t]he statutes and rules of practice
    . . . do not afford a parent in a neglect proceeding the
    right to require the trial court to adjudge each parent’s
    blameworthiness for a child’s neglect’’). Consequently,
    a parent who is absent from neglect proceedings is not
    denied due process when his or her parentage of the
    child is not yet known.8
    Here, the commissioner reasonably believed that a
    different man was the child’s father. At the neglect
    hearing, E identified the respondent as the father. A
    court-ordered paternity test confirmed E’s assertion in
    April, 2018, at which point the court found that the
    respondent was the child’s father. Thus, although the
    respondent was not a party to the neglect proceeding
    in October, 2017, he was not legally required to be a
    party because the proceeding centered on the status of
    the child. See In re T.K., supra, 
    105 Conn. App. 505
    –506;
    see also In re Zoey H., 
    183 Conn. App. 327
    , 346–47, 
    192 A.3d 522
     (father’s subsequent entry into case did not
    invalidate previous neglect adjudication and obligate
    court to afford him fitness hearing), cert. denied, 
    330 Conn. 906
    , 
    192 A.3d 425
     (2018).
    The case on which the commissioner relies, In re
    Zoey H., supra, 
    183 Conn. App. 327
    , features strikingly
    similar facts to the present case. In In re Zoey H., the
    commissioner filed a neglect petition on behalf of the
    child. Id., 337. The mother identified a man as the father.
    The putative father was named in the case and stood
    silent at the neglect hearing. Id., 337–38. The child was
    then adjudicated neglected and committed to the cus-
    tody of the commissioner. Id., 338. The respondent
    appeared six months later and a judgment of paternity
    was entered. Id., 343. He subsequently filed two motions
    to revoke commitment, both of which were denied, and
    then appealed the denial of his second motion, asserting
    a due process right to an adjudicatory hearing on his
    fitness as a parent. Id., 343–44. This court rejected his
    request, concluding that the trial court did not need to
    hold a hearing to determine his fitness when the child
    already had been found uncared for prior to his entry
    into the case. This court explained that ‘‘[the child]
    was adjudicated uncared for by the Superior Court and
    committed to the care and custody of the petitioner
    before the respondent ever appeared and asserted that
    he was [the child’s] father; indeed, a different man was
    purported to be her father, and he appeared at the
    hearing on the petition. The respondent’s later appear-
    ance in the case and the results of his paternity test do
    not change the historical fact that, at the time of her
    commitment, [the child] was homeless and, therefore,
    uncared for within the meaning of our child protection
    statutes, regardless of parentage.’’ Id., 338–39.
    The same logic holds true in the present case. The
    respondent’s absence at the neglect hearing is not
    legally significant because the child’s father was unde-
    termined at the time the child was adjudicated
    neglected. Just as in In re Zoey H., the respondent
    in the present case was not known to be the child’s
    biological father when the commissioner filed her pre-
    liminary neglect petition. See id., 337. As noted, when
    the department learned from E about the respondent
    and his alleged paternal status, the department took
    timely measures to join him into the proceedings and
    to seek a judgment of his paternity. At the hearing on
    December 28, 2017, the respondent was advised by the
    court of the avenues he could take to challenge the
    finding of neglect. The court arranged for legal repre-
    sentation and advised him that ‘‘[t]he child’s in the care
    and custody of the [department] already and has already
    been found neglected,’’ but that the respondent had
    ‘‘the right to have a hearing moving forward on any
    future changes in the case’’ and ‘‘to have any disposi-
    tional hearing at this point as to the issue of neglect
    and then on any new petitions that may be forthcoming
    in the future.’’ The respondent’s absence from the
    neglect proceeding thus did not deprive him of any due
    process, because the department subsequently joined
    him to the proceeding and the court advised him of the
    avenues available to him to challenge the judgment.
    The respondent did not file a motion to open the neglect
    judgment, even though the statutory four month period
    for opening the judgment had not yet expired, nor did
    he file any motion to revoke commitment. His failure
    to do so renders his appeal an impermissible collat-
    eral attack.
    ‘‘The department sets about to do its work pursuant
    to the findings made and steps ordered pursuant to a
    trial on a neglect petition. Those findings and orders
    place the respondent parents on notice as to what is
    expected of them if they are to regain custody of their
    children.’’ In re Stephen M., 
    supra,
     
    109 Conn. App. 665
    .
    The department worked with the respondent until mid-
    2019, with the goal of reunification through satisfaction
    of court-ordered specific steps. Throughout this pro-
    cess, the respondent acquiesced in the judgment of
    neglect and did not at any time avail himself of his
    opportunity to challenge it. The court found that the
    department made reasonable efforts to achieve its goal
    of reunification, but that the respondent failed to fully
    meet the criteria in his court-ordered specific steps and
    then failed to appear both at his plea date and at the
    termination of parental rights trial itself. In sum, the
    record indicates that the respondent, after taking no
    action to challenge the adjudication that his child was
    neglected and acquiescing in that judgment, now seeks
    to collaterally attack that judgment following the termi-
    nation of his parental rights. This he may not do.
    The judgment is affirmed.
    In this opinion the other judges concurred.
    * In accordance with the spirit and intent of General Statutes § 46b-142
    (b) and Practice Book § 79a-12, the names of the parties involved in this
    appeal are not disclosed. The records and papers of this case shall be open
    for inspection only to persons having a proper interest therein and upon
    order of the Appellate Court.
    ** November, 20, 2020, the date that this decision was released as a slip
    opinion, is the operative date for all substantive and procedural purposes.
    1
    The court also terminated the parental rights of the child’s mother, E,
    finding that she had been unavailable to the Department of Children and
    Families since 2017 and had abandoned the child. Because she has not
    appealed, we refer in this opinion to the respondent father as the respondent.
    2
    The attorney for the minor child submitted a statement, pursuant to
    Practice Book § 67-13, adopting the commissioner’s brief.
    3
    The newly amended permanency plan of reunification remained concur-
    rent with the plan of termination of parental rights and adoption.
    4
    The department asserted that the respondent ‘‘has shown an inability
    to be rehabilitated. . . . [The respondent] has not complied with the expec-
    tations set by the [d]epartment regarding employment, housing, and creating
    a strong bond with his son. [The respondent] has also shown an inability
    to fully comprehend the situation regarding his son and [has not taken]
    responsibility.’’
    5
    The record reveals that following the respondent’s April, 2018 incarcera-
    tion, the department arranged a total of nine monthly visits with the child
    pursuant to the amended permanency plan, and that these visits became
    weekly upon the respondent’s release from incarceration in February, 2019.
    The respondent exhibited inconsistent attendance, as he was ‘‘habitually
    . . . late to visits and has missed at least [two] visits without notice.’’
    6
    General Statutes § 17a-112 (j) provides in relevant part: ‘‘The Superior
    Court, upon notice and hearing as provided in sections 45a-716 and 45a-
    717, may grant a petition filed pursuant to this section if it finds by clear
    and convincing evidence that (1) the Department of Children and Families
    has made reasonable efforts to locate the parent and to reunify the child
    with the parent in accordance with subsection (a) of section 17a-111b, unless
    the court finds in this proceeding that the parent is unable or unwilling to
    benefit from reunification efforts, except that such finding is not required
    if the court has determined at a hearing pursuant to section 17a-111b, or
    determines at trial on the petition, that such efforts are not required, (2)
    termination is in the best interest of the child, and (3) . . . (B) the child
    (i) has been found by the Superior Court or the Probate Court to have been
    neglected, abused or uncared for in a prior proceeding . . . and the parent
    of such child has been provided specific steps to take to facilitate the return
    of the child to the parent . . . and has failed to achieve such degree of
    personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reason-
    able time, considering the age and needs of the child, such parent could
    assume a responsible position in the life of the child . . . .’’
    7
    After the commissioner establishes that the child has been found
    neglected in a prior proceeding, the commissioner still has the burden to
    show in the dispositional phase, by clear and convincing evidence, that the
    ‘‘continuation of the respondent’s parental rights is not in the best interest
    of the child.’’ In re Alison M., 
    127 Conn. App. 197
    , 211, 
    15 A.3d 194
     (2011).
    8
    The respondent relies principally on In re Joseph W., 
    301 Conn. 245
    , 
    21 A.3d 723
     (2011), for his argument that the trial court had an obligation to
    canvass him when he first appeared in the case, so as to ensure that he had
    a fair opportunity to contest the neglect adjudication. In re Joseph W., does
    not advance the respondent’s argument. In that case, the court improperly
    entered a neglect adjudication where the father was present, yet was pre-
    vented from contesting it or subsequently opening the judgment. 
    Id.,
     261–63.
    On appeal, this court concluded that the neglect judgment was improper
    because the father had no opportunity to contest it, and thus it could not
    be relied on to subsequently terminate the father’s parental rights. See In
    re Joseph W., 
    121 Conn. App. 605
    , 621, 
    997 A.2d 512
     (2010), aff’d, 
    301 Conn. 245
    , 
    21 A.3d 723
     (2011). In affirming this court’s ruling, our Supreme Court
    rejected the commissioner’s argument that the appeal was an impermissible
    collateral attack on the denial of the motion to open, concluding that the
    ruling was not an appealable final judgment because the court did not
    ‘‘categorically deny’’ the motion to open. In re Joseph W., supra, 
    301 Conn. 264
    .
    This case does not feature the due process problems that were present
    in In re Joseph W. The respondent in the present case was unknown to the
    commissioner when the underlying neglect adjudication took place, unlike
    the respondent in In re Joseph W., who was a party to the proceeding and
    who attempted to enter a plea at that time. The respondent in the present
    case was not compelled to stand silent because the court advised him of
    his rights when he first appeared. Thus, the neglect adjudication in the
    present case was a proper final judgment. The respondent simply did not
    exercise his right to file a motion to open the judgment or otherwise act
    to challenge the underlying neglect adjudication directly.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: AC43710

Filed Date: 12/1/2020

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 4/17/2021