Background
The West Virginia Department of Human Services filed an abuse-and-neglect petition in March 2024 alleging that S.L., S.R.’s mother, abused methamphetamine. A prior case involving the parents had been dismissed after they completed improvement periods and regained custody in 2022. The mother stipulated to substance abuse, was adjudicated an abusing parent, and received a post-adjudicatory improvement period requiring treatment, drug testing, contact with DHS, and other services.
DHS provided transportation and substance-abuse treatment through the Wyoming County Day Report Center and secured a placement at Anchor Point, which the mother declined in favor of other treatment. She was discharged from Serenity Pointe after aggressive conduct, left a second program against medical advice, failed to maintain contact with DHS or participate consistently in proceedings, and could not be located at times. At disposition, she had entered a third inpatient program, but the circuit court terminated her parental rights after finding that DHS made reasonable reunification efforts and that she could not substantially correct the conditions of abuse or neglect in the near future.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed. It held that the record supported the circuit court’s finding that DHS made reasonable efforts to preserve the family. DHS offered treatment and transportation, attempted to maintain contact, conducted multidisciplinary-team meetings, and sought to arrange supervised visitation while the mother was doing well in treatment. Although DHS did not secure the ordered psychological evaluation, the mother was unavailable for contact when she was outside treatment.
The Court also held that the circuit court had sufficient evidence to find no reasonable likelihood that the mother could substantially correct the conditions in the near future. During her improvement period, she continued using substances, was discharged from one program, left another, failed to stay in contact with DHS, missed hearings, and was briefly incarcerated. Her participation in a third program at disposition did not require the court to delay permanency for S.R., whose welfare required stability and a path to adoption.
Key Takeaways
- Reasonable reunification efforts may be established through treatment referrals, transportation, contact attempts, MDT meetings, and attempted visitation.
- A parent’s failure to complete treatment, maintain contact, or comply with an improvement period can support a finding that conditions cannot be corrected in the near future.
- Courts need not await speculative parental improvement when a child’s need for permanency and stability supports termination.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that DHS’s reunification obligation is measured by reasonable efforts, with child safety paramount, rather than by perfect delivery of every possible service. It also reinforces that late-stage enrollment in treatment does not overcome an established record of noncompliance when termination is necessary to provide a child permanency.