H.B. v. Mobile County Department of Human Resources

In 2008, when H.M.P. was 18 months old, the Department of Human Resources (department) (defendant) removed her from the apartment she shared with her mother, H.B. (plaintiff) and her maternal grandmother. The child was inside the apartment alone while H.B. was in the parking lot, experiencing a mental-health episode. H.B. was hospitalized and began taking medication, and in 2010 H.M.P. was returned to H.B.’s custody. In 2012, when the family planned to move from their apartment, management found 28 or more cats living in it. The department investigated and deemed the apartment unsanitary for H.M.P. H.M.P. was removed from H.B.’s custody again. The department set goals for H.B., including finding alternative housing and maintaining her mental health, which H.B. met. H.M.P. was returned to H.B.’s custody in December 2013 under the department’s supervision. In the interim, H.B. and her mother had moved into a three-bedroom home. In August 2015, police were called to the family’s home to serve an arrest warrant on H.B. for theft. The social worker who responded to that call noted that the house did not have electricity or running water and was in an unsanitary condition. H.M.P. was removed from H.B.’s custody for a third time. H.B. was offered a psychological evaluation, parenting classes, and housekeeping assistance, which she declined. In January 2016, the department’s plan became adoption. In March 2016, H.B. began cooperating with the department’s requests, the electricity and water was restored at the family home, and H.B. was sentenced to probation on the theft charge. At trial, the department did not attempt to prove that H.M.P. was ever harmed by H.B. or in poor health due to the conditions of the home—in fact, the evidence showed H.M.P. had always been fed, sheltered, and well-groomed, attended school regularly, and was bonded with her mother and grandmother. At that point, H.B. was on medication and attending therapy for her mental-health issues. The trial court found that H.B. failed to successfully rehabilitate herself and adjust her circumstances to meet H.M.P.’s needs and terminated her parental rights. H.B. appealed, arguing that the evidence did not support that conclusion.