In re A.T.

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 3527

Syllabus

The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in awarding permanent custody of an abused, neglected and dependent three-year-old to a children services agency. Clear and convincing evidence demonstrated that the child's best interest would be served by awarding permanent custody to the agency and allowing the child to remain in the care of the child's foster parents of more than two years, who were interested in adopting the child. The juvenile court also did not abuse its discretion by awarding legal custody of neglected and dependent 12- and two-year-old siblings to unrelated caregivers with whom both had lived for more than two years. The preponderance of evidence supported the court's determination that the children's best interest warranted remaining in their current home, which was able to address the children's particularized needs. Additionally, mother's trial attorney did not provide deficient representation by failing to make a hearsay objection to the foster mother's testimony about the three-year-old's medical diagnoses and prognoses, and the agency did not fail to make a reasonable effort at reunification before moving for permanent custody. Judgments affirmed.