IN RE: PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO: K.C. (FAMILY)

Statutes cited

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

Standard of review: questions of law are reviewed de novo; factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence. In re Parental Rts. as to A.L., 130 Nev. 914, 918, 337 P.3d 758, 761 (2014). Substantial evidence is that which "a reasonable person may accept as adequate" to support a conclusion. Ellis v. Carucci, 123 Nev. 145, 149, 161 P.3d 239, 242 (2007). The appellate court will "not reweigh the evidence on appeal or substitute our judgment for the district court's." Matter of T.M.R., 137 Nev. 262, 267, 487 P.3d 783, 789 (2021). Doctrinal framework: Termination requires clear and convincing evidence of (1) at least one ground of parental fault and (2) that termination serves the child's best interest. NRS 128.105(1); In re Termination of Parental Rts. as to N.J., 116 Nev. 790, 800-01, 8 P.3d 126, 132-33 (2000). Parental fault - unfitness. The Court relied on Matter of M.M.L., Jr., 133 Nev. 147, 152, 393 P.3d 1079, 1082-83 (2017), recognizing mental illness as a factor supporting parental fault. The record established diagnoses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, persistent refusal to take medication or acknowledge the conditions, and deteriorating self-care. The Court applied NRS 128.105(1)(b)(3), the statutory definition of "unfit parent" in NRS 128.018, and NRS 128.106(1)(a) (requiring consideration of mental illness rendering a parent consistently unable to care for the child's needs). Parental fault - failure of parental adjustment. Under NRS 128.105(1)(b)(4) and NRS 128.0126, the Court found Richard'dnae failed to substantially correct the conditions leading to removal. She was uncooperative and combative at psychiatric appointments and did not engage with services. The Court cited In re Parental Rts. as to K.D.L., 118 Nev. 737, 747-48, 58 P.3d 181, 187-88 (2002), for the proposition that failure to make required behavioral changes evidences failure of adjustment, and Matter of S.L., 134 Nev. 490, 497, 422 P.3d 1253, 1259 (2018), for the proposition that without acknowledgment that circumstances need to change, a parent cannot demonstrate they will. NRS 128.109(1)(b) further provides that failure to comply with a case plan within six months may evidence failure of adjustment. Parental fault - token efforts. NRS 128.105(1)(b)(6); NRS 128.109(1)(a) creates a presumption of token efforts when the child has resided outside the parent's care for more than 14 of 20 consecutive months. K.C. resided outside Richard'dnae's care for 20 consecutive months, triggering the presumption, which Richard'dnae did not rebut. The Court cited In re N.J., 125 Nev. 835, 846, 221 P.3d 1255, 1263 (2009), where a token-efforts finding was supported by the parent falling asleep during visits - circumstances mirrored here. Because NRS 128.105(1)(b) requires only one ground of parental fault, the Court did not review the district court's additional fault finding. Best interest. NRS 128.109(2) presumes termination is in the child's best interest when the child has been placed outside the parent's home for 14 of 20 consecutive months. Once that presumption applies, the parent bears the burden to rebut it by reference to the NRS 128.107 factors. In re J.D.N., 128 Nev. 462, 474, 283 P.3d 842, 850 (2012). The Court concluded Richard'dnae did not carry that burden and noted considerations under NRS 128.107 (continued reunification unlikely within a predictable period despite extensive services) and NRS 128.108 (foster placement with adoption goal; K.C.'s siblings already adopted by the foster family). The Court declined to consider arguments concerning Richard'dnae's older children, whose parental rights had been terminated in prior proceedings not before the Court on this appeal.

In plain language

This case involves a mother, Richard'dnae C., whose newborn daughter K.C. was taken into state custody by Clark County's child-welfare agency shortly after birth in November 2022. The agency was concerned about the mother's untreated mental illness. The mother had previously lost parental rights to six other children. The agency placed K.C. with a foster family that had already adopted K.C.'s siblings, and gave the mother a "case plan" - a list of things she had to do, like getting mental-health and substance-abuse evaluations and following the recommendations - to try to get her daughter back. She was also given a guardian ad litem to help protect her interests in the legal process. After a trial in July 2024, the family court judge ended the mother's parental rights. The mother appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court, arguing the evidence was not strong enough to justify that decision. The Supreme Court disagreed and affirmed. To end someone's parental rights in Nevada, a judge must find by "clear and convincing evidence" both (1) at least one form of "parental fault" and (2) that termination is in the child's best interest. The Court reviewed the evidence and concluded the trial judge had enough support for three forms of parental fault: the mother is "unfit" due to her mental illness (she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and refuses to take medication or acknowledge her conditions); she failed to make the changes the case plan required (she was uncooperative at psychiatric appointments and did not change her behavior); and she made only "token efforts" to parent (K.C. lived outside her care for 20 consecutive months, she missed visits, and when she did attend she dozed off). The Court also held that termination was in K.C.'s best interest. Nevada law presumes termination is in a child's best interest when the child has been outside the parent's home for 14 of 20 consecutive months, and the mother did not produce evidence to overcome that presumption. The Court noted that K.C. has spent almost her entire life with the foster family that has already adopted her siblings. The Court declined to consider the mother's arguments about her older children, because their cases were resolved in earlier proceedings and were not part of this appeal.