Opinion
No. 25471
Decided April 24, 1967.
Infants — Dependency — Custody — Application for permanent change — County welfare department — Consideration immediately after birth — Evidence of ability of unmarried mother to provide proper care.
Upon a showing that a fifteen-year-old mother has a substantial record of delinquency, that her family situation is financially and emotionally unstable, and that a report of a psychologist suggests a poor prognosis for her success in the role of a mother, the court may grant a permanent change of custody of the three day old infant under Section 2151.04, Revised Code, on the grounds of dependency, although the mother has not had physical custody of the child.
Mr. Robert H. Stone, for the family.
Mr. David Dowd, Jr., prosecuting attorney, for the Welfare Department.
This matter came on for hearing, upon an affidavit or complaint filed April 24, 1967, charging that a three-day-old child appears to be a dependent child; that Carl Swoveland is the legal father and Paulette Turner, a. k. a. Paulette Swoveland, is the legal mother. The affidavit was signed by Susan Albu, supervisor, Stark County Welfare Department.
The hearing was held May 8, 1967. The mother was represented by counsel.
The court makes the following findings of fact:
(1) On May 8, 1967, the court ordered placement with Stark County Welfare, pending final determination upon receipt of a psychological report, to be made by agreement of all parties. The report having been completed and delivered to counsel for the family and to the court, and neither party having anything further to add, this matter is here for final determination.
(2) The mother of this infant is 15 and will be 16 on October 28, 1967. She has had an eighth grade education. Her employment to date consists of brief employment as an aide at a nursing home where her mother was employed.
(3) The mother's parents have had a stormy life with frequent moving and a rather constant pattern of financial deprivation since 1951.
(4) Paulette began a pattern of delinquent behavior in the community by disobeying her mother, truancy at home by staying away from home overnight, and associating meretriciously with other boys, in 1966. Her mother complained of this conduct to the Stark County Juvenile Court probation department.
(5) Paulette claims she was raped at age 13, and has had intercourse many times since.
(6) On September 21, 1966, following the filing of a delinquency complaint on September 2, 1966, by Relda Valentine, probation officer; Stark County Juvenile Court found Paulette to be a delinquent girl. The charge was that Paulette was delinquent by (a) incorrigibility at home (failure to subject herself to the reasonable control of her mother by reason of being wayward or habitually disobedient); (b) having sexual intercourse and being pregnant (so deporting herself as to injure or endanger the morals or health of herself or others); (c) breaking and entering an uninhabited building in Florida; and (d) attempting to enter the marriage relationship in Florida, without legal authority, with one Carl Swoveland, currently an inmate of the Florida State Prison. (Case No. 24927) She was "remanded to the Stark County Detention Home, pending placement." Thereafter, on October 13, 1966, the court committed Paulette to the custody of the Stark County Welfare Department, and this department provided maternity care.
(7) On April 1, 1966, the Juvenile Domestic Relations Court of Hillsborough County, Florida, found Paulette delinquent, and released her to the custody of her father, Wilbur Turner, on probation. (Exhibits "A" and "B".)
(8) On December 17, 1965, Paulette participated in a pretended ceremonial marriage at Sarasota, Florida. Paulette's mother and father were witnesses. (Exhibit "C".)
(9) In 1966, while the "pretended husband" was in jail in Florida, Paulette became pregnant in Stark County with the child who is the subject of this action. Her "pretended hushand" is not the father of this child. Paulette claims that a married man is the father.
(10) Since her release from maternity care, Paulette has lived with her mother. She is not employed or enrolled in school. Paulette's father is currently in the south, running a truck stop. Her mother works at a nursing home and earns $60 every two weeks.
(11) Paulette's "pretended husband" expects parole in October, 1967. He has provided no support for Paulette since his incarceration, except an income tax refund. Paulette claims he has money in a Florida bank.
(12) There was no derogatory testimony concerning the physical surrounding of Paulette's residence. Paulette has adequate food, clothing, and shelter.
(13) At no time since birth has this child been in the custody of, or under control of, Paulette.
Is Baby Girl Turner, a.k.a. Baby Girl Swoveland, a dependent child?
Conclusions of Law
The issue is determined by reference to Section 2151.04, Revised Code, which defines a "dependent child" as any child:
"(A) Who is homeless or destitute or without proper care or support, through no fault of his parents, guardian, or custodian;
"(B) Who lacks proper care or support by reason of the mental or physical condition of his parents, guardian, or custodian;
"(C) Whose condition or environment is such as to warrant the state, in the interests of the child, in assuming his guardianship * * *"
It has been held that children whose parents are adulterous, childish, and selfish; speak vilely of each other to the children: and allow a close association between the children and immoral persons; are "dependent children." In re Douglas, 82 Ohio Law Abs. 170, 164 N.E.2d 475. See, also, In re Dake, 87 Ohio Law Abs. 483, 180 N.E.2d 646.
It is the finding and holding of this court that a child born to a 15-year-old girl who has a substantial record of delinquency, including numerous acts of sexual intercourse with different men; failure to respond to the reasonable control and discipline of her mother; has an eighth-grade education; and attempts to enter into a ceremonial marriage in Florida — prior to her pregnancy by a man other than her "husband"; and is also a delinquent child by the commission of a felony, where the father of the child is a married man and the "husband" of the mother is currently serving a sentence in the Florida State Penitentiary, and where the mother's family situation is financially and emotionally unstable — such child is a "dependent child," even though the child has never been in the custody of the natural mother.
Counsel for the family raise the question: "How can a child be found `dependent' where there has never been an opportunity for the natural mother to provide a home and failure on her part?"
Although it is true that the state of dependency must exist on the date of the hearing, and it is further true that the court may not speculate upon a set of facts that do not exist; it is equally clear that the court, in an examination of the then existing facts, has not only the right, but the duty, to interpret the status of the parties with a view to determining whether or not the parent or parents is or are able, physically and emotionally, to provide proper care and support. The responsibility of the court to examine the conditions and environment within which the child would live, in the event the court were to find the child "not dependent," is material by the specific language of the statute. Also, the interests of the child are to be considered.
It is, therefore, the finding of this court that Baby Girl Turner, a. k. a. Baby Girl Swoveland, is a "dependent child."
Coming to the matter of the disposition, this court, in addition to the facts presented on the issue of dependency, has carefully examined the psychological examination and evaluation of the mother of this child. This examination was extensive, and numerous revealing tests were administered by the psychologist. He notes:
"Although she has engaged in a considerable variety of delinquent and socially-objectionable experiences, she remains a rather naive, unsophisticated person who lives on a very simple level and whose basic needs appear to be those of warmth, love, acceptance, and affection; the kinds of basic gratification which Paulette has apparently found in her heterosexual relationships.
"* * * There is considerable evidence of depression and of pronounced feeling of personal inadequacy in the face of a threatening, unfavorable, depriving environment.
"* * * Intellectual inadequacy does not appear to be primary in the total pattern of ineptness presented by the girl."
The psychologist notes that Paulette has compelling needs for physical affection, which would be promoted by the return of the child to her; that, in addition, she needs adolescent-level activities and the opportunity for developing additional skills. In conclusion, he states:
"Although she expresses a certain level of mother-interest, she simultaneously demonstrates ongoing adjustment problems involving compelling needs for love and affection, adolescent reaction to authority figures, and a social acting-out tendencies, conditions which suggest poor prognosis for successful self-management and poorer prognosis for success in the role of wife and mother."
This court believes that the best interests of this child, together with those of her infant mother, will be served by granting permanent custody, pursuant to the provisions of Section 2151.35, Revised Code, to the Stark County Welfare Department. Hopefully, Paulette will develop the kinds of skills and value-systems that she will need to effectively live within our culture; and, hopefully also, this child will be given the opportunity of being raised in a normal, healthy family relationship.
Exceptions to Paulette Swoveland. Costs waived.
Permanent custody granted.