These three companion appeals involve a custody dispute between the biological parents of the minor children D. W. and L. W. and the maternal grandparents. At the time of the dispute, the children, both of whom have special needs and are developmentally delayed, were in the temporary custody of the grandparents because the Department of Family and Children Services “DFCS” had removed them from the parents’ home. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm the superior court’s decision to award permanent custody of the children to the grandparents. We likewise affirm the juvenile court’s decision to deny the parents’ motion for reunification with their children. When reviewing child custody decisions, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to upholding the trial court’s order. Mitcham v. Spry , 300 Ga. App. 386 685 SE2d 374 2009. So viewed, the evidence showed that D. W., a male child, was born on June 22, 2004, and L. W., a female child, was born on January 6, 2006. The biological parents’ involvement with DFCS began in the summer of 2007 when L. W., who was approximately seventeen months old, was admitted to Scottish Rite Hospital, where she tested positive for salmonella and was diagnosed with failure to thrive. At the time of her admission, L. W. was in a severe lethargic state, “couldn’t hold her head up even much to cry,” was dehydrated, feverish, and had a dilated rectum with “string-mucus-looking stuff coming out of it.” L. W. had a severe diaper rash “like skin was coming loose from her bottom,” her ribs were visible, and her stomach was slightly bloated. Additionally, L. W. was not walking or talking, was not passing urine, and was not having normal bowel movements. Despite these signs of distress which had been present for over a week, L. W. was taken to the hospital only at the initiative of the grandmother; the parents thought that she simply had “a little bit of a bug or something” and had not sought medical treatment.
As a result of her condition, L. W. received intravenous feeding and was hospitalized for a week. Because L. W. clearly exhibited signs of medical neglect, one of the medical providers contacted Paulding County DFCS, which removed the children from the parents’ care and placed them with the maternal grandparents in July 2007. The deprivation case was then transferred to Carroll County, as this was the home county of the parents at the time. Carroll County DFCS developed a family safety plan requiring the parents, among other things, to meet the medical and developmental needs of their children.
