CHINS: K C v. Indiana Department of Child Services ( 2024 )


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  •                                              IN THE
    Court of Appeals of Indiana
    In the Matter of J.B. (Minor Child)
    FILED
    K.C. and S.C.,                   Oct 22 2024, 9:27 am
    Appellants-Respondents                    CLERK
    Indiana Supreme Court
    Court of Appeals
    and Tax Court
    v.
    Indiana Department of Child Services,
    Appellee-Plaintiff
    October 22, 2024
    Court of Appeals Case No.
    24A-JC-1124
    Appeal from the Wayne Superior Court
    The Honorable Kaarin M. Lueck, Magistrate
    Trial Court Cause No.
    89D03-2304-JC-26
    Opinion by Judge Weissmann
    Judges Pyle and Felix concur.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024   Page 1 of 12
    Weissmann, Judge.
    [1]   K.C. and S.C. (collectively, Foster Parents) cared for 1-year-old J.B. (Child) as
    foster parents for five weeks after Child was declared to be a child in need of
    services (CHINS). The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) then
    supported another family’s adoption of Child. But when DCS attempted to
    place Child with that family (Adoptive Family), Foster Parents sought to
    intervene in the CHINS action and petitioned for a preliminary injunction
    barring the move.
    [2]   The trial court denied both the motion to intervene and the injunction, and
    Foster Parents appealed. Finding the trial court correctly determined that Foster
    Parents had no right to participate in the CHINS proceeding as a party and
    were not entitled to a preliminary injunction, we affirm.
    Facts
    [3]   Three days after Child was born in April 2023, DCS petitioned to find Child to
    be a CHINS based on his mother’s mental illness and domestic violence in her
    home. Child was placed in foster care and later adjudicated a CHINS. Granting
    wardship of Child to DCS, the CHINS court ordered DCS to be responsible for
    the supervision, placement, and care of Child.
    [4]   Child lived six months in his first foster home, after which DCS placed him in a
    second foster home for about six weeks. Child then lived for about four months
    in Ohio with a relative, who ultimately requested Child’s removal based on the
    relative’s inability to continue to care for Child’s alleged extensive medical and
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024      Page 2 of 12
    developmental needs. The relative reported that Child, then less than 12 months
    old, had been diagnosed with dysphasia and hypertonia and was extremely stiff
    and unable to move. Child was often unconsolable and fearful, and he had
    difficulty swallowing without choking, according to the relative.
    [5]   Child was returned to Indiana and placed with Foster Parents, who were
    licensed foster parents. The husband was a former paramedic, and the wife
    worked as a physician’s assistant. Shortly before Child began living with them
    in early March 2024, Foster Parents had adopted two other children.
    [6]   When Child was placed with Foster Parents, the permanency plan for Child
    was concurrent reunification and adoption, meaning reunification with Mother
    was still a possibility. Some misunderstanding arose, however, and Foster
    Parents believed they would be allowed to adopt Child if he were placed with
    them. In late March 2024, Child’s mother signed a general consent to allow
    Child to be adopted. DCS contacted Foster Parents to determine whether they
    wished to be interviewed to adopt Child. Foster Parents expressed surprise that
    other families were being considered for the adoption.
    [7]   A DCS adoption committee convened, as was the county’s custom when a
    child found to be a CHINS needed an adoptive home. The committee
    interviewed several families, including Foster Parents, who were interested in
    adopting Child. The committee members also reviewed the applicants’ home
    studies and family and child histories. The committee ultimately selected
    Adoptive Family, who had no children. Foster Parents were informed of the
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024   Page 3 of 12
    decision and told that DCS soon would transport Child from Foster Parents’
    home to Adoptive Family’s home.
    [8]   Unhappy with the adoption committee’s decision, Foster Parents moved to
    intervene in the CHINS proceeding. They also petitioned to enjoin DCS’s
    removal of Child from their home—a motion that equated to a request for a
    preliminary injunction. After a hearing, the trial court requested DCS
    reconsider whether they still wished to support Child’s adoption by Adoptive
    Family, rather than Foster Parents. DCS did not change its mind. Recognizing
    DCS’s authority over the placement of its wards, the court denied Foster
    Parents’ motion to intervene, as well as their request for preliminary injunction.
    The court found:
    Having reviewed the reports submitted for consideration at this
    hearing, as well as the testimony and other evidence presented,
    the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions:
    1. On February 22, 2024, the DCS started the adoption
    recruitment process in this case.
    2. On March 3, 2024, the DCS placed the child with [Foster
    Parents], after the child’s relative placement through the
    Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)
    requested the child be removed.
    3. Since being placed with [Foster Parents], the child’s medical
    condition has improved.
    4. On March 21, 2024, Mother signed Consent to Adoption of
    the child.
    5. [Foster Parents] were not told by Julie Rowe, with the
    Meridian foster care services, that Ms. Rowe submitted two
    (2) families for consideration to adopt the child.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024       Page 4 of 12
    6. Three (3) families were interviewed as possible pro-adoptive
    placements for the child, including [Foster Parents].
    7. A family other than [Foster Parents] was chosen by the DCS
    to be the pro-adoptive placement for the child.
    8. The DCS did not advise the CASA of many aspects of this
    case, including that the child was removed from the ICPC
    placement.
    9. The DCS did not file notice with this Court that the child was
    moved to the new placement with [Foster Parents].
    10. The DCS has wardship of the child, including responsibility
    for the child’s placement.
    11. While the DCS has not handled many aspects of this child’s
    placement pursuant to the DCS’ own policies and the standards
    expected by this Court, the Court does not find that it is
    appropriate to interfere with the wardship.
    IT IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED that the Motion and the
    Enjoin Removal Petition are denied.
    App. Vol. II, pp. 19-20. Foster Parents appeal.
    Discussion and Decision
    [9]    Foster Parents claim the trial court erred in denying both their motion to
    intervene and their motion to enjoin Child’s removal. As Foster Parents have
    not met their burden of showing the trial court abused its discretion, we affirm.
    I. Motion to Intervene
    [10]   “Intervention is the procedure through which nonparties may assert their rights
    in an ongoing lawsuit.” In re Guardianship of Adducci, 
    240 N.E.3d 708
    , 714 (Ind.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024        Page 5 of 12
    Ct. App. 2023). Indiana Trial Rule 24 governs intervention and provides in
    relevant part1:
    (B) Permissive Intervention. Upon timely filing of his motion
    anyone may be permitted to intervene in an action:
    (1) when a statute confers a conditional right to intervene; or
    (2) when an applicant’s claim or defense and the main action
    have a question of law or fact in common. When a party to an
    action relies for ground of claim or defense upon any statute or
    executive order administered by a federal or state governmental
    officer or agency or upon any regulation, order, requirement, or
    agreement issued or made pursuant to the statute or executive
    administrative order, the governmental unit upon timely
    application may be permitted to intervene in the action. In
    exercising its discretion[,] the court shall consider whether the
    intervention will unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of
    the rights of the original parties.
    [11]   In CHINS proceedings, Trial Rule 24 works in conjunction with Indiana Code
    § 31-32-2.5-1. That statute generally permits “a foster parent” or “a person who
    has been a foster parent” of a child to “petition the court to request intervention
    as a party during any stage of a [CHINS] proceeding under IC 31-34.” 
    Ind. Code § 31-32-2.5
    -1(a) (2023). A court must grant a petition to intervene filed
    under Indiana Code § 31-32-2.5-1 “if the court determines that intervention by
    the petitioner is in the best interests of the child.” 
    Ind. Code § 31-32-2.5
    -3.
    1
    On appeal, Foster Parents do not specify whether they are entitled to intervention as a matter of right under
    Trial Rule 24(A) or to permissive intervention under Trial Rule 24(B). We interpret their argument as falling
    under the latter. If Foster Parents intended to rely on Rule 24(A), they have waived such a claim. See Indiana
    Appellate Rule 46(A)(8)(a) (requiring appellant’s arguments be cogent and supported by citations to authority
    and to the record on appeal).
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024                             Page 6 of 12
    [12]   We review a trial court’s ruling on a motion to intervene for an abuse of
    discretion. In re Guardianship of Adducci, 240 N.E.3d at 713. Taking the facts
    alleged in the motion as true, we reverse an order denying a motion to intervene
    if the decision is clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and
    circumstances before the court or if the court has misinterpreted the law. Id.
    [13]   Foster Parents claim their intervention was in Child’s best interests because
    they cared for Child for five weeks, “loved him unconditionally,” “met and
    improved his medical needs,” and mutually bonded with him. Appellant’s Br.,
    p. 12. Foster Parents also note that the court criticized DCS’s handling of
    Child’s placement with Adoptive Parents, given that DCS had failed to follow
    its own policies and did not meet the court’s expectations. Aside from citing
    one appellate decision establishing the standard of review, though, Foster
    Parents provide no authority supporting their position.
    [14]   For instance, Foster Parents do not specify any statutory violations by DCS that
    would support granting their motion to intervene. They merely contend that the
    trial court’s comments show that DCS was not acting in Child’s best interests.
    Yet the court never made such a finding. In fact, by concluding that it “does not
    find that it is appropriate to interfere with wardship,” the court suggests that
    DCS overall was acting in Child’s best interests. App. Vol. II, p. 20.
    [15]   Foster Parents thus have failed to show that either their brief history with Child
    or any mistakes by DCS renders Foster Parents’ intervention in Child’s best
    interests. The adoption committee determined that adoption by Adoptive
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024       Page 7 of 12
    Family was in Child’s best interests, in part, because that family had no
    children. The record contains no evidence that Adoptive Family will not
    provide loving care and medical support for Child or that Child, who had just
    turned 1, would be harmed by departure from Foster Parents’ home just five
    weeks after he arrived there. In fact, Child had stayed longer in other
    placements and been moved without apparent incident. The trial court did not
    abuse its discretion in denying Foster Parents’ motion to intervene.
    II. Preliminary Injunction
    [16]   Before we reach the merits of this issue, we note that neither party addresses
    whether Foster Parents have the requisite standing to seek the return of Child,
    given the proper denial of their motion to intervene. A litigant must be “entitled
    to have a court decide the substantive issues of a dispute.” Solarize Ind., Inc. v. S.
    Ind. Gas & Elec. Co., 
    182 N.E.3d 212
    , 216 (Ind. 2022). The standing requirement
    thus imposes a limit on the court’s jurisdiction, as well as the party’s ability to
    gain the relief the party seeks. See id. at 216-17.
    [17]   “[U]nlike parent and step-parent relationships, foster relationships are designed
    to be temporary, providing a safe, nurturing environment until the child can
    either be returned to the natural parents or adopted by new ones.” Worrell v.
    Elkhart Cnty. Off. of Fam. & Child., 
    704 N.E.2d 1027
    , 1029 (Ind. 1998) (internal
    quotations omitted). “[I]f each of the potential profusion of foster parents had
    standing because he or she had custody of the child at some point, the natural
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024         Page 8 of 12
    or adoptive parents might be forced to defend visitation claims against a legion
    of petitioners.” 
    Id.
    [18]   Although foster parents normally are not parties to a CHINS petition, they are
    provided certain limited statutory rights to notice and hearing. See, e.g., 
    Ind. Code § 31-34-21-4
     (requiring notice of periodic case review to child’s foster
    parent). But seeking to control Child’s placement is quite another thing. Foster
    Parents do not point to any statutory authority or provide any precedent
    allowing them to seek a preliminary injunction—or file any other motion, for
    that matter—if they are not proper intervenors.
    [19]   But even if Foster Parents had standing to seek the preliminary injunction, the
    trial court properly denied such relief. To obtain a preliminary injunction, the
    movant must show by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the movant has
    a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits; (2) the remedies at law are
    inadequate and irreparable harm will occur while the case is pending; (3) the
    threatened injury to the movant from a denial of the injunction outweighs the
    potential harm to the nonmovant from granting the injunction; and (4) the
    public interest would not be disserved by granting the injunction. Thind v.
    Delaware Cnty., 
    207 N.E.3d 434
    , 439 (Ind. Ct. App. 2023); Vickery v. Ardagh
    Glass, Inc., 
    85 N.E.3d 852
    , 859-60 (Ind. Ct. App. 2017).
    [20]   Appellate review of a preliminary injunction decision is “limited and
    deferential.” State v. Econ. Freedom Fund, 
    959 N.E.2d 794
    , 801 (Ind. 2011). A
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024       Page 9 of 12
    trial court has discretion to enter a preliminary injunction and will be reversed
    only upon an abuse of that discretion. 
    Id. at 799-800
    .
    [21]   The trial court did not make explicit findings as to each of these preliminary
    injunction requirements when denying Foster Parents’ requested injunction.2
    But the court’s verbal and written orders make clear that it viewed Foster
    Parents as lacking a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits.
    [22]   In their initial written request for preliminary injunction, Foster Parents sought
    to halt the removal of Child from their home. On appeal, however, Foster
    Parents appear to assert that the aim of the injunction was to secure Child’s
    adoption. When arguing that they met the requirements of a preliminary
    injunction, Foster Parents contend that they “demonstrated a reasonable
    likelihood of success to adopt [Child] at trial.” Appellant’s Br., p. 9. Foster
    Parents focus on DCS documents showing that they were listed as a “pre-
    adoptive placement” just 11 days before DCS supported Adoptive Family’s
    adoption of Child. Id. at 10. Foster Parents also note that they maintained a
    foster care license and, only three months earlier, had adopted two other
    children who were wards of the State.
    [23]   But this argument about adoption is misplaced, as the CHINS court lacked
    authority to grant an adoption. “The probate court has exclusive jurisdiction in
    all adoption matters.” 
    Ind. Code § 31-19-1-2
    . And DCS, which must consent to
    2
    Foster Parents do not challenge the adequacy of the trial court’s findings.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024              Page 10 of 12
    Child’s adoption, has already determined that it will not support Foster Parents’
    goal of adopting Child. See 
    Ind. Code § 31-19-9-1
    (a)(3) (generally requiring
    consent to adoption by “[e]ach person, agency, or local office having lawful
    custody of the child whose adoption is being sought”); 
    Ind. Code § 31-19-7-3
    (“Approval under this chapter for placement in a proposed adoptive home must
    be filed with the petition for adoption.”). Even after being ordered by the trial
    court to consider anew its choice for Child’s pre-adoptive home, DCS does not
    appear to have changed its view that selection of Adoptive Family was in
    Child’s best interests. Foster Parents have not shown a reasonable likelihood of
    success on the merits of their quest to adopt Child.
    [24]   The outcome is no different if we focus just on whether Foster Parents had a
    reasonable likelihood of success of halting DCS’s removal of Child from their
    home. The court noted that DCS has authority over placements of children who
    are declared CHINS—a statement with which Foster Parents agree on appeal.
    Appellant’s Br., p. 9 (“As wardship holder of [Child,] DCS maintains nearly
    unabated discretion on his placement.”); see generally 
    Ind. Code §§ 31-19-7-1
    , -2
    (requiring approval of DCS before child can be placed in pre-adoptive home).
    The court stated that it does not normally second guess DCS’s decisions on
    such placements because DCS has much more information about Child. The
    court concluded that it had heard nothing at the hearing that justified deviation
    from its normal deference to DCS’s placement decisions. By doing so, the court
    effectively communicated to Foster Parents that they had not established a
    reasonable likelihood that they would succeed on the merits.
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024     Page 11 of 12
    [25]   As the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Foster Parents’ motion
    to intervene and their request for preliminary injunction, we affirm.
    Pyle, J., and Felix, J., concur.
    ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
    J. Clayton Miller
    Jordan Law, LLC
    Richmond, Indiana
    ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE
    Theodore E. Rokita
    Attorney General of Indiana
    Katherine A. Cornelius
    Deputy Attorney General
    Indianapolis, Indiana
    Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 24A-JC-1124 | October 22, 2024    Page 12 of 12
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 24A-JC-01124

Filed Date: 10/22/2024

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/22/2024