Oklahoma: Appeals Court Holds that Father’s Parental Rights Be Terminate BY: Katie S.

The Oklahoma Court of Appeals in In the Matter of L.S., Khanpher v. Oklahoma, (Okla. Civ. App. 2013), held that the appellant’s parental rights to his son, L.S., be terminated. L.S., an alleged deprived child, was born on July 5, 2010. The child tested positive for amphetamines when he was born and was placed in D.H.S. custody. At the time of his birth, the Mother was homeless and the Father was incarcerated on drug related charges. The Mother’s parental rights had previously been terminated and the State sought termination of the Father’s parental rights as well. The Father was court ordered to meet six standards of conduct in order to correct the conditions that led to the deprived adjudication of L.S. The six standards of the Father’s Individualized Service Plan (ISP) included a) to provide a safe, stable, hygienic, appropriately-furnished home; b) demonstrate the ability to provide the necessary guidance and support to meet the child’s emotional, medical, and educational needs; c) complete an approved parental skills counseling course and put learned skills into practice; d) obtain employment sufficient to meet the needs of the child; e) complete a D.H.S. approved drug assessment and program; and f) pay child support of $100/month. Six months later, the State filed an application to terminate the Father’s parental rights alleging that appellant failed to fully satisfy the six standard corrections that led to the adjudication of L.S. In a jury trial, the jury decided to terminate the appellant’s parental rights, finding the child had been adjudicated deprived, Father had caused or contributed to such adjudication, Father had failed to correct the conditions which led to the adjudication of the child although he had been given more than three months to do so, and it was in the child’s best interests that his parental rights be terminated. The Father appealed the trial court’s order in accordance with the jury’s verdict. The Father argued that the order terminating his parental rights is fundamentally deficient because it fails to identify the specific statutory basis upon which the State relied in order to terminate his parental rights; it did not identify the conditions Father failed to correct which led to the order of adjudication, and the State failed to present clear and convincing evidence in support of the termination of his parental rights. The Oklahoma Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the Father’s trial court terminating the parental rights to L.S.