The Juvenile Court of DeKalb County terminated the parental rights of the mother to 24-month-old twins T. J. and J. J.1 The mother appeals, contending the court’s order is not supported by clear and convincing evidence of parental misconduct as required by OCGA § 15-11-94 b 4 A. the mother also contends the court erred in allowing the testimony of an expert witness. Finding no reversible error, we affirm. A termination of parental rights case involves a two-step analysis. First, there must be a finding of parental misconduct or inability, which requires clear and convincing evidence that: 1 the child is deprived; 2 the lack of proper parental care or control is the cause of the deprivation; 3 the cause of the deprivation is likely to continue; and 4 continued deprivation is likely to cause serious physical, mental, emotional, or moral harm to the child. OCGA § 15-11-94 b 4 A i-iv. If these four factors exist, then the court must determine whether termination of parental rights is in the best interest of the child, considering the child’s physical, mental, emotional, and moral condition and needs, including the need for a secure, stable home. OCGA § 15-11-94 a. In reviewing a juvenile court’s decision to terminate parental rights, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the juvenile court’s disposition and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found by clear and convincing evidence that the natural parent’s rights to custody should be terminated. In so doing, we do not weigh the evidence or determine the credibility of witnesses; rather, we defer to the juvenile court’s factfinding and affirm unless the appellate standard is not met. Footnotes omitted. In the Interest of T. L. , 279 Ga. App. 7, 10 630 SE2d 154 2006. Viewed in this light, the record2 shows the following relevant facts. the mother has a long history of drug abuse. She admitted using cocaine “off and on” over past 10 years. Others testified the mother has been abusing drugs even longer, since her adolescence. Although, at the time of the hearing, the mother was living in a “three-quarter” house and attending a drug rehabilitation program, her prior attempts at drug rehabilitation had failed. Prison did not deter her drug use. She was jailed for cocaine possession and for probation violations. And despite losing her parental rights to one of her older children, N. J., in 2000, she continued using cocaine. J. J. and T. J. were born prematurely, with congenital syphilis, and addicted to cocaine on August 3, 2003. After the children were taken from her, the mother continued to use cocaine, and admitting using as recently as June of 2004. At the time of the hearing, two years after the birth of the twins, the mother had yet to successfully complete a drug rehabilitation program.
Although the mother did complete parenting classes and attended more than half of her scheduled visits with the twins, she failed to maintain steady employment or obtain stable, secure housing. She was often difficult to locate and rarely provided the Department with documents verifying her employment, housing, drug treatment, or drug screens. She provided no financial support for the twins. After two years, the mother failed to meet the goals of her case plan. Further, the mother has long a history of failing to parent her children. The unmarried 34-year-old has seven children, ages 19, 18, 16, 9, 7, and 2 the twins, all of whom currently live with either their biological fathers or others, some of whom reside out of state.
