COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA Present: Judges O’Brien, AtLee and Senior Judge Haley UNPUBLISHED Argued at Richmond, Virginia RICHMOND DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES MEMORANDUM OPINION* BY v. Record No. 0510-21-2 JUDGE MARY GRACE O’BRIEN DECEMBER 6, 2022 JAZLENE WELLS AND DAMIEN ROANE FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND D. Eugene Cheek, Judge Keisha Dillard-Brady, Senior Assistant City Attorney (Lee L. Nelms, Guardian ad litem for the minor child, on brief), for appellant.1 Dorothea Kate O’Leary; Paul S. Kellinger for appellees. The Richmond Department of Social Services (the Department) appeals the circuit court’s dismissal of its petitions to terminate the residual parental rights of Jazlene Wells (mother) and Damien Roane (father) and approve the goal of adoption. The Department contends that the court erred in requiring proof by clear and convincing evidence that mother and father abused or neglected their child (J.R.)2 before their parental rights could be terminated. The Department also challenges the court’s refusal to terminate parental rights under Code § 16.1-283(B) and (C)(2). BACKGROUND On January 26, 2019, mother brought three-month-old J.R. to the hospital and reported that he was acting “fussy.” Medical personnel contacted the Department upon discovering that “the * Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication. 1 Pursuant to Rule 5A:19(d), the guardian ad litem filed a notice joining appellant’s brief. 2 We use the child’s initials to protect his privacy. child sustained multiple bruises,” including “a bruise and scratch on the inside back part of his throat” and a bruise on his chest “the size of a thumb that was reddish purple in color.” J.R. also had “scratch marks under both eyes.” Neither parent could explain the child’s injuries. A social worker who saw J.R. at the hospital about 24 hours later did not observe the bruises and noted that “[t]he child did not appear to be in any pain or discomfort.” However, the treating physician expressed concern about the scratch and bruise at the back of J.R.’s throat and requested that the parents bring him back for a follow-up skeletal survey. After missing three appointments without explanation, father returned for J.R.’s skeletal survey approximately one month later. The survey revealed that the child had “multiple healing rib fractures” on the “second through sixth ribs” with a “suspected healing fracture of the anterior left seventh rib” and “a new fracture on [the] left wrist.” At the time of the skeletal survey, J.R. was living between the households of his paternal and maternal grandmothers and was cared for only by his mother, father, and grandmothers. None of his caregivers could explain how J.R. sustained the injuries. The Department filed an abuse or neglect petition in the juvenile and domestic relations district court (JDR court), alleging that “[d]ue to the nature of the injuries sustained (old/new), the vulnerability of the [child], and the fact that the [child] had multiple caregivers[,] it [was] unsafe for the child to remain in the care of either parent.” The JDR court entered …
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals