The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of Robert W. Leavenworth’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs against his daughter’s maternal grandparents after the juvenile court dismissed the grandparents’ deprivation action against him, holding that the juvenile court properly concluded that it was not authorized to impose attorneys’ fees under O.C.G.A. § 9-15-14. The juvenile courts have not adopted O.C.G.A. § 9-15-14, there is no implicit attorneys’ fee award for frivolous litigation in the Juvenile Court Code, and English v. Milby, 233 Ga. 7 (1974), holds that the Civil Practice Act does not apply to juvenile courts.

In the Interest of T. M. M. L., A11A 1589 (01/24/12)

Fulton County Daily Report, February 3, 2012

Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s order finding that the minor child was deprived and awarding his custody to DFCS, holding that clear and convincing evidence established that the child was without the care necessary for his mental or emotional health because he and his father had not completed family counseling. The Court also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in delaying family therapy until the child was ready.

In the Interest of H. J., A11A1756 (12/08/12)

Fulton County Daily Report, December 29, 1012

Temporary custody and deprivation order, affirmed; juvenile court did not err in approving DFACS’ request to maintain temporary custody, since DFACS made reasonable efforts to prevent removal of child from her father’s custody, evidence established that father failed his drug screens on three occasions, failed to get whooping cough vaccine required to safeguard child’s fragile health, lacked stable housing and remained unemployed, failed to pay child support, failed to submit information needed for criminal background check, and had suspended license and no reliable means of transporting child to doctors’ appointments.

In the Interest of T.B.W., A11A1897 (11/18/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, December 9, 2011

Continuation of custody of minor mother’s 2-year-old child with DFACS, affirmed, as juvenile court did not err in holding review hearing without mother present; pretermitting whether court erred in not continuing hearing, mother failed to establish that she was harmed by not being present, as she did not allege that her attorney did not adequately represent her interests or that juvenile court erred in its disposition of case; juvenile court did not err in admitting certain unauthenticated documents, as all helpful information may be received in proceeding involving child custody, other non-hearsay evidence supported juvenile court’s findings, and mother failed to show how she was harmed by documents’ admission.

In the Interest of N. H., A11A1280 (10/20/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, November 4, 2011

Award to their maternal grandparents of permanent custody of two special needs children who had previously been adjudicated deprived, affirmed, with limited visitation to parents, as clear and convincing evidence showed that parental custody would harm children and that grandparents’ custody would best promote children’s health, welfare and happiness; while parents consistently failed to attend to children’s special needs and physical well-being, grandparents had served as children’s primary caregivers for several years, were fully cognizant of their special needs, were actively involved in securing services and therapies for children and charting their progress, and were in position due to their retirement to carefully monitor children on daily basis; for same reasons, juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying parents’ motion for reunification, which sought to modify or vacate unexpired deprivation order based on alleged change in circumstances.

In the Interest of D. W. and L. W., A11A1463; A11A1464; A11A1465 (09/15/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, September 30, 2011

Finding that minor child was deprived, reversed; no clear and convincing evidence showed that mother was unfit to care for child; evidence that child was wearing only diaper during summer day, lack of variety of food in home, physical discipline of child, and dirty home did not support finding that child had been or would be harmed; additionally, no evidence showed that mother’s failure to accept support services harmed child.

In the Interest of J.H., A11A0125 (07/01/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, July 22, 2011

Order terminating children’s father’s parental rights, affirmed, as children were deprived, father was unable to provide proper care for children, deprivation was likely to continue and termination was in children’s best interest; after being granted unsupervised visitation with children, father beat one child with belt on child’s buttocks, legs and thighs resulting in child’s hospitalization, father was arrested for child cruelty, and when asked about incident by juvenile court, he exercised Fifth Amendment rights; father had cognitive problems that affected his ability to parent and to implement skills learned in parenting classes and counseling, he had history of anger management problems, engaged in angry outburst in telephone call with evaluating psychologist, admitted to physically disciplining one child in connection with toilet training and displayed anger in regards to one child’s toilet training.

In the Interest of T. P., A11A0304 (07/08/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, July 29, 2011

Termination of mother’s parental rights to her child, affirmed; clear and convincing evidence authorized juvenile court to rule that child’s deprivation was likely to continue and was likely to harm him; mother gave birth to child in prison, she was without home of her own and unable to provide housing for child, she was unemployed and unable to provide for child’s financial needs, and she suffered from mental health problems for which she allegedly failed to take her medicine; mother also failed to bond with child and did not contact child or DFACS for 16 months that he was in DFACS custody; termination of mother’s parental rights was in child’s best interest, since there was testimony regarding bonding of child with his foster parents, who wished to adopt him, and danger of foster care drift, if permanency was not established.

In the Interest of A. E. S., A11A0692 (07/07/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, July 29, 2011

Dismissal of deprivation complaint, affirmed, as juvenile court acted within discretion in finding that there were no reasonable grounds to find that minor was deprived; minor tested positive twice for Chlamydia but mother and step-father tested negative for disease; mother was cooperating with investigation; minor had not been exposed to disease through penetration, and case manager testified that DFACS did not believe minor was in any immediate danger of harm within home.

In the Interest of J. F., A11A0538 (07/13/11)

Fulton County Daily Report, July 29, 2011

Termination of mother’s parental rights to her three children, AFFIRMED, as evidence supported it; mother had history of displaying bizarre, paranoid behavior, she stopped taking her prescribed medication and skipped her mental health appointments, she failed to clean her home, she provided no evidence of employment or ability to pay monthly living expenses, she failed to pay child support and she failed to maintain bond with her children.

In the Interest of S.P., A09A15 (11/12/09)

From:  Fulton County Daily Report  (12/4/ 2009)