Alaska Court Case: A.H. v. STATE OF ALASKA

A.H., Appellant, v. STATE OF ALASKA, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL SERVICES, Appellee.

Supreme Court No. S-9412, No. 5324

SUPREME COURT OF ALASKA 10 P.3d 1156

October 20, 2000, Decided Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, First Judicial District, Juneau. Larry R. Weeks, Judge.

Superior Court Nos. 1JU-97-65A/66A CP.

AFFIRMED.

COUNSEL:

Roger D. Snippen, Law Offices of Roger D. Snippen, Juneau, for Appellant. Jan A. Rutherdale, Assistant Attorney General, and Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General, Juneau, for Appellee.

JUDGES:

Before: Fabe, Chief Justice, Matthews, Eastaugh, Bryner, and Carpeneti, Justices.

OPINION: FABE, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION:

A.H. appeals the superior court's decision to terminate his parental rights as to his two daughters. The superior court determined that A.H.'s children were children in need of aid due to neglect, domestic violence, and mental illness; that A.H. had not remedied the conduct that placed his children at risk of harm; that the State made active remedial efforts which proved unsuccessful; that continued custody by A.H. would likely result in serious damage to the children; and that it was in the children's best interests to terminate A.H.'s parental rights. Because the record supports each of the superior court's findings, we affirm the superior court's decision.

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A.H. and M.H. met in Juneau in 1991, where they both were undergoing treatment with the Juneau Alliance for the Mentally Ill (JAMI). They married in Sitka in 1994. They had their first daughter, T., in 1995 and lived in Anchorage for about six months before returning to Sitka. While the family lived in Anchorage, the Department of Health & Social Services, Division of Family & Youth Services (DFYS) reported that A.H. and M.H. were neglecting their daughter, failing to provide adequate food, and that A.H. had not been properly taking his psychotropic medications. Consequently, DFYS made referrals to various service agencies, including the Public Health Service, the Agency for Families Enhancement Coordination Teams (AFECT), and New Beginnings. When the family returned to Sitka, DFYS received more reports concerning the H.s' care of their daughter. Both A.H. and M.H. were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. They also had problems with money and housing. During this time, A.H. was hospitalized for his mental condition. There were also reports that A.H. and M.H. had harmed T. while living in Sitka. The H.s did not have any food, they improperly mixed the baby formula, and A.H. allegedly dropped the baby "a short distance, six inches, onto the bed . . . while he was hallucinating." Although a DFYS worker in Sitka began to coordinate services, the H.s decided to move to Juneau. Several agencies became involved with the H.s in Juneau, including the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Center (SEARHC), for medical services; Healthy Families, for parenting services; Juneau Public Health, for nursing services; City and Borough of Juneau, for mental health services; and the Infant Learning Program (ILP), for child development services. DFYS put together a team to coordinate these services, and the team met to discuss the H.s' problems with housing and mental health. M.H. was pregnant again by this time, and the H.s' second daughter, K., was born in October 1996 in Juneau.

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