State of Utah, in the interest of N.Y.

----ooOoo----

State of Utah, in the interest of N.Y.,
a person under eighteen years of age.
______________________________

State of Utah,
Appellee,

v.

T.Y.,
Appellant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)

Case No. 20010940-CA

F I L E D
July 26, 2002 2002 UT App 252 -----

Third District Juvenile, Salt Lake Department
The Honorable Olof A. Johansson

Attorneys:
John E. Laherty, Salt Lake City, for Appellant
Mark L. Shurtleff and John M. Peterson, Salt Lake City, for Appellee
Martha Pierce and Elizabeth M. Knight, Salt Lake City, Guardians Ad Litem -----

Before Judges Jackson, Billings, and Thorne.

PER CURIAM:

T.Y. (Mother) appeals the termination of her parental rights to N.Y. on grounds that she was unfit or incompetent, see Utah Code Ann. § 78-3a-407(3) (Supp. 2001); she failed to remedy the circumstances that caused N.Y. to be in out-of-home placement, see id. § 78-3a-407(4); she had a failure of parental adjustment, see id. § 78-3a-407(5); and she made only token efforts to avoid being unfit, see id. § 78-3a-407(6).

Mother challenges only portions of two findings of fact as unsupported by the evidence. Both finding 7 and finding 8 make general statements followed by specific examples. Finding 7 states that Mother "has exhibited extremely poor judgment with respect to her children and has placed them at risk for further abuse." Mother challenges the subsidiary finding that K.C. sexually abused A.Y. as being supported solely by substantiation of the abuse by the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS). Mother failed to satisfy the burden on appeal to "marshal all of the evidence supporting [the finding] and then demonstrate that the evidence, including all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, is insufficient to support the findings." State v. Larson, 2000 UT App 106,¶11, 999 P.2d 1252. Evidence supporting the finding included testimony of a Salt Lake City Police Detective that Collins pleaded guilty to a sexual abuse offense arising from conduct with A.Y. Mother has not demonstrated that the finding is erroneous. Finding 8 states that Mother "has a history of criminal behavior and drug abuse that has negatively affected her ability to parent." Mother challenges one of three examples, which states that she was awaiting trial on criminal charges at the time of the termination trial. The State concedes that there is no evidence in the record to support this statement; however, the other two examples contained in the finding remain unaffected.

Mother next claims that the remaining findings of fact, although not challenged for insufficiency of the evidence, are insufficient to support the grounds for termination. However, included in the claim are challenges to portions of the findings. Because Mother has not satisfied the marshaling burden, we review only the claim that these unchallenged findings of fact do not support the grounds for termination. The trial court found that Mother's poor judgment with regard to her children placed them at risk. The claim that the enumerated behavior impacted only N.Y.'s siblings is without merit given the additional finding, based upon N.Y.'s own testimony, that while in his parent's care, he was involved in gang activity starting at age nine that included drinking, using drugs, and stealing. The trial court also found that Mother's criminal behavior and drug abuse negatively impacted her parenting ability. Although Mother disputes that a probation violation by alcohol use constituted criminal behavior in itself, she testified that two periods of incarceration prevented her from commencing efforts to comply with the service plans until January of 2001. The trial court also found that, although Mother made some progress toward achieving the objectives of the service plans, those efforts did not commence in earnest until February of 2001, some eight months after removal of the children. Accordingly, the court found that "[w]eighing that progress with the amount of time the court has been involved, as well as subsequent events involving [A.Y.], the court finds those efforts token." Mother did not challenge the factual finding that DCFS provided reasonable efforts and services to reunify the family or the finding that it is in N.Y.'s best interest that her parental rights be terminated to allow his adoption.

Under the circumstances, the findings of fact support the grounds for termination. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment.
 
 

______________________________
Norman H. Jackson,
Presiding Judge
 
 

______________________________
Judith M. Billings,
Associate Presiding Judge
 
 

______________________________
William A. Thorne Jr., Judge