Legal Services Assists Abusive Mother Trying To Get Children Back
Legal Aid Society, Inc., a Legal Services Corporation grantee located in Omaha, represented Gwendolyn M., a mother whose children were taken from her in 1995 due to neglect and substance abuse, in a battle to keep her parental rights. In 1998, after three years of supervised visitation, the state filed a petition to terminate Gwendolyn’s parental rights because Gwendolwn failed to follow the court’s requirements for getting her children back, which included getting substance abuse counseling, acquiring a job and maintaining an adequate and stable home. According to the visitation supervisor, Gwendolyn “struck one child across the face, threatened the other children, was uncooperative....[t]here were no-shows by [Gwendolyn] for a number of visitations, including one on Christmas Eve 1997.” Moreover, during the period of supervised visitation, Gwendolyn apparently did not contribute money to her children, even though she was receiving AFDC and food stamp benefits for the children. Despite this outrageous conduct by Gwendolyn, Legal Aid argued her case all the way to the Nebraska Court of Appeals, which understandably did not interfere with the lower court’s decision to terminate Gwendolyn’s parental rights.
See In re Interest of Johnny M., 1999 Neb. App. LEXIS 133 (Neb. App.
April 27, 1999)
Legal Aid Argues Mother Whose Children Live In Filth Should Get Them Back
Omaha’s Legal Aid Society, which receives federal taxpayer dollars, recently appealed a decision terminating the parental rights of Lori H., a woman accused of severe neglect of her four children. In 1996, the state put Lori’s children into protective custody because the dwelling in which the family was living was observed to be filthy and unsanitary with no electricity or running water. Afterwards, the state court hearing the case ordered Lori to obtain adequate housing, a legal source of income, submit to a random urinalysis and participate in supervised visitation with the children, among other conditions in order to get her children back. In 1998, the state requested that the court terminate Lori’s parental rights because Lori had failed to meet the court’s requirements. The trial court granted the state’s request, and Legal Aid appealed the decision to the state Court of Appeals. From the Appeals Court’s decision, it appears that the state Department of Social Services made numerous attempts to help Lori live up to the conditions of the court order, including trying to help her find a job, get her drug and alcohol counseling and provide transportation to and from the visitation sessions. Lori appears to have refused most of these services and also refused to submit to the required drug tests. In this case, the decision by Legal Aid to pursue an appeal appears to be a gross waste of the court’s time and taxpayers’ dollars with little or no apparent evidence favoring the Legal Aid client.
See In re Interest of Alisha H., 1999 Neb. App. LEXIS 39 (Neb. App. February 2, 1999)