Dept. of Human Services v. J.C.H.

The Court did not reach the question of whether Father would be deprived of constitutionally sufficient notice if DHS terminated parental rights based on different grounds from those upon which DHS originally established jurisdiction. Instead, the Court found that DHS had proven some of the original allegations by clear and convincing evidence. Affirmed.

Father appealed the juvenile court's termination of parental rights. Father argued that parental rights can only be terminated on the same grounds for which Department of Human Services (DHS) originally assumed jurisdiction over the children, otherwise he is deprived of constitutionally sufficient notice.

The Court went into detail about the conditions of the children's home life as well as their resulting mental problems, and the marked improvement each child has made since being in foster care.

The Court then found that it did not need to address the constitutional notice argument because DHS adequately proved by clear and convincing evidence a number of its original grounds for asserting jurisdiction. This alone is sufficient to terminate parental rights.

Affirmed.