Petition to terminate parental rights based on sexual abuse; MCL 722.638(1)(a)(ii); Jurisdiction; MCL 712A.2(b); In re SLH; Abandonment of an issue

Holding that the trial court did not err when it declined to exercise jurisdiction over the children, the court affirmed the order dismissing the DHHS’s petition to terminate respondent-father’s parental rights. The DHHS petitioned for termination after respondent was charged with CSC I for assaulting his stepdaughter. On appeal, the court rejected its argument that the trial court erred by dismissing the petition at the pretrial hearing without conducting a fact-finding adjudication. The trial court’s findings reasonably led it to conclude that the children “were not ‘subject to a substantial risk of harm,’ and that their ‘home or environment’ was not ‘an unfit place’ for them to live.” As such, because the DHHS “did not prove a statutory ground . . . the trial court correctly declined to assume jurisdiction over the children.” It was “correct to point out that it properly filed a petition for termination pursuant to MCL 722.638(1)(a)(ii), but because the trial court found that the statutory grounds for jurisdiction” were not met, it “was unable to continue with the proceedings.” The court also found that the DHHS abandoned its claim that the trial court was obligated to hear the evidence at an adjudication hearing, as it did “not present any authority in support of this argument.” And the record was “clear that the DHHS had ample opportunity to present evidence and argument to establish a statutory ground for the trial court to assume jurisdiction, but failed to do so.”