The Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services “DFACS” filed a deprivation complaint alleging that one-day-old S. D. was deprived because his teenage mother was herself in DFACS custody and was unable to care for the child. When S. D. was six days old, DFACS filed a deprivation petition. Following a hearing, the juvenile court found S. D. deprived and awarded temporary custody of the child to DFACS. The mother appeals,1 and for the reasons that follow, we reverse. A deprived child is defined as a child who “is without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health or morals. OCGA § 15-11-2 8 A. In determining whether a child is deprived, the court focuses on the needs of the child rather than parental fault. And a temporary loss of custody is not authorized unless the deprivation resulted from unfitness on the part of the parent, that is, either intentional or unintentional misconduct resulting in the abuse or neglect of the child or by what is tantamount to physical or mental incapability to care for the child. On appeal from a finding of deprivation, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the juvenile court’s judgment and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the child was deprived and whether, under the circumstances, the court properly awarded temporary custody of the child. Citations, punctuation and footnote omitted. In the Interest of J. H. , 310 PlaceNamePlaceNameGa. App. 401-402 713 SE2d 472 2011.
So viewed, the record shows that DFACS filed a deprivation complaint when S. D. was one day old. The complaint alleged that the 16-year-old mother was in DFACS custody and “not capable of caring and providing for the child.” The same day, the juvenile court issued a probable cause order finding that probable cause existed to suspect that S. D. was deprived because the minor mother was in DFACS custody, refused to go to school, was unemployed and without independent housing, and was unable to independently provide for S. D. The order did note however, that the mother had completed parenting classes, and that the child’s maternal great-grandmother’s home had been approved to house S. D. and his mother upon their release from the hospital.
