In the Interest Of: Tiffany Marie S., Taylor Brook S., Children Under the Age of Eighteen Years Nancy S.e…

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia affirmed the Circuit Court of Raleigh County's termination of Nancy S.E.'s parental rights to her two daughters, rejecting all five of her assignments of error plus her family-case-plan challenges. The court held the delayed appointment of counsel was harmless, the fifteen-month improvement period was invited error, the criminal-charges evidence was unpreserved or non-prejudicial, the denial of a continuance for her absence at the final hearing was not an abuse of discretion under a newly articulated four-factor test, and the abuse-and-neglect finding was supported by clear and convincing evidence. It further held the Department's late filing of the family case plan caused no prejudice and that the Department was not required to prove noncompliance with the plan. In dicta, the court admonished circuit courts to give abuse and neglect proceedings statutory priority, criticizing the three-year pendency of this case.