State of Tennessee, Department of Children's Services v. Taketa Puryear and Johnnie B. McNeal

The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services began providing services to the biological parents of three minor children in December of 2000. Eventually, all three children were removed from the home after the juvenile court determined they were dependent and neglected due to the parents’ failure to provide for their medical and nutritional needs. The department created a permanency plan for each child calling for the parents to provide adequate housing, provide for the children’s medical and nutritional needs, undergo a psychological evaluation and follow through with treatment recommendations, and participate in counseling/parenting classes designed to teach the parents how to adequately provide for their children. The department subsequently filed a petition to terminate the biological parents’ parental rights, alleging the grounds of abandonment, substantial noncompliance with the responsibilities in the permanency plans, persistent conditions, and the mother’s alleged mental incompetency. Following a trial, the juvenile court entered an order terminating the biological parents’ parental rights to their minor children. The juvenile court found that the department proved by clear and convincing evidence that the parents abandoned the children, substantially failed to comply with the responsibilities in the permanency plans, and allowed conditions to persist which made it unsafe to return the children to the parents. In addition, the juvenile court found that terminating the parents’ parental rights was in the children’s best interest.  Only the mother filed an appeal to contest the juvenile court’s judgment. We affirm.