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An unpublished opinion of the North Carolina Court of Appeals does not constitute controlling legal authority. Citation is disfavored, but may be permitted in accordance with the provisions of Rule 30(e)(3) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure.

NO. COA11-781 NORTH CAROLINA COURT OF APPEALS Filed: 6 December 2011 IN THE MATTER OF: C.T., A Minor Juvenile Jones County No. 09 JT 17

Appeal by respondent father from order entered 21 March 2011 by Judge Carol A. Jones-Wilson in Jones County District Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 7 November 2011. Jones County

Sheri M. Davenport for petitioner-appellee Department of Social Services.

Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, by Tobias S. Hampson, for respondent-appellant father. Poyner Spruill LLP, by Shannon E. Hoff, for guardian ad litem. HUNTER, Robert C., Judge. Respondent father ("the father") appeals from the trial

court's order terminating his parental rights to the juvenile C.T. ("the juvenile"). by concluding that The father argues the trial court erred grounds existed to terminate his

three

-2parental rights and that it was in the juvenile's best interest to terminate his parental rights. We affirm. On 2 October 2009,

The juvenile was born in June of 2009.

the Jones County Department of Social Services ("DSS") filed a petition alleging the juvenile was neglected, and the juvenile was placed in non-secure adjudicated parents to custody. neglected. complete On 5 The February 2010, the

juvenile ordered

was both

adjudication classes,

court

parenting

maintain

employment, and find suitable housing, and ordered the father to have substance abuse and mental health assessments and follow any recommendations. On 7 December 2010, DSS filed a petition to terminate the parents' parental rights. As grounds for termination, DSS

alleged that the juvenile was neglected, that the parents had willfully left the juvenile in foster care for more than 12 months without making reasonable progress toward correcting the conditions that led to the juvenile's placement outside the

home, and that the juvenile had been in DSS custody for more than six months and the parents had failed to contribute toward the cost of the juvenile's care. The matter came on for hearing on 8 March 2011. Social

worker Faith Person testified at the adjudication phase of the

-3hearing, and a relative with whom the juvenile was placed

testified at the disposition phase.

On 21 March 2011, the trial

court entered an order terminating the parents' parental rights. The trial court concluded that the evidence supported all three grounds for termination alleged by DSS, and that it was in the juvenile's rights. On best interest to terminate both parents' parental

The father entered notice of appeal. appeal, three the father argues the to trial court his erred by

concluding rights. At

grounds

existed

terminate

parental

We disagree. the adjudicatory stage of a termination of parental

rights hearing, the burden is on the petitioner to prove that at least one ground for termination exists by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence. N.C. Gen. Stat.

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