These appeals involve an order of the juvenile court terminating the mother’s and the father’s parental rights to five-year-old B. W. In Case Number A07A1486, the mother contends the juvenile court erred in finding that 1 B. W.’s deprivation is likely to continue and is unlikely to be remedied, 2 continued deprivation is likely to cause serious physical, mental, emotional or moral harm to B. W., 3 termination of her parental rights is in the best interest of B. W., and 4 sufficient evidence exists regarding efforts to locate a suitable relative placement for B. W. In Case Number A07A1487, the father contends the juvenile court erred in all of the above. He further asserts that the court erred in finding clear and convincing evidence of deprivation based on any fault of the father. Because the cases involve essentially the same set of facts, we have consolidated them for appeal. We find no reversible error and affirm the juvenile court’s order terminating both parents’ parental rights. The evidence presented at the parental rights termination hearing revealed that B. W. has twice been removed by the state from the legal and physical custody of his parents —first in 2002 and again in 2004. The first removal occurred on May 17, 2002, when the Polk County Department of Family and Children Services “the Department” received a report that the father was mentally ill and had threatened to kill the mother and two-month-old B.W., that the father had committed domestic violence against the mother, that the mother was in jail,1 and that both parents had a history of domestic violence and drug use. The juvenile court issued a shelter care order and placed B. W. in protective custody. The juvenile court subsequently found B. W. deprived, noting that both parents were incarcerated for drug offenses at the time of the hearing, that the father had a history of mental illness which included violent behavior, and that there were issues of domestic violence and drug use with both parents.
On September 5, 2002, the juvenile court conducted an adjudicatory hearing on the Department’s deprivation petition against the father. The father stipulated at the hearing that he was arrested on May 19, 2002 for violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, that both he and B. W.’s mother were presently in jail, that he had a history of mental illness which would interfere with his ability to parent, and that B. W. was without proper parental care or control. The juvenile court found that B. W. was deprived due to his father’s substance abuse and mental impairment. A psychiatrist who examined the father after his release from jail indicated that because of the father’s mental condition, the father could not care for B. W. The Department received temporary custody of B. W. On December 12, 2002, the juvenile court conducted a review hearing wherein the Department informed the court that the father’s parenting classes were ceased after one of the employees witnessed the father making death threats against the mother. The court ordered the Department to provide the father with the names and telephone numbers of other agencies providing parenting classes. These orders were not appealed.
