The mother of D. D. B., a minor child, appeals from the order of the Juvenile Court of Floyd County terminating her parental rights. After reviewing the record on appeal, we conclude that the juvenile court’s order was supported by clear and convincing evidence and affirm. D. D. B. was born in August of 2001. Shortly thereafter, the Floyd County Department of Family and Children’s Services the Department asked for and received immediate custody of the child. On September 12, 2001, the Department filed a petition with the juvenile court alleging that D. D. B. was deprived. After a hearing in which the mother was present, the juvenile court made findings of fact, including that the mother had syphilis while she was pregnant, but refused treatment, and that the mother had recently been hospitalized for the treatment of her mental illness, a bipolar disorder for which she did not consistently take her medication. The juvenile court found D. D. B to be deprived.
On March 14, 2002, the Department filed a petition to terminate the parental rights of D. D. B.’s mother and his putative father. The matter came before the juvenile court on February 14, 2003. Julia Terrell, D. D. B.’s case manager, testified that the mother had completed a great deal of the goals of her case plan for reunification with D. D. B., but not all of them. Terrell described the mother’s behavior during their meetings. During their first visit, when D. D. B. was three weeks old, the mother brought a can of Coke for the child because she believed he would be tired of drinking breast milk. When D. D. B. was eight months old the mother brought him a bag of food consisting of noodles, chocolate bars, and cheese crackers. On several occasions, the mother told Terrell that D. D. B. must be teething because the mother’s own teeth hurt. Terrell also recounted that she and the mother took the same path every week for a year to the visitation room to see D. D. B., which consisted of walking down one hallway and making one turn to get to the room, but that every week the mother would need to be directed on how to leave the building. Terrell testified that her main concern was the consistency of the mother’s mental health. The mother’s case plan for reunification required that she maintain her mental health, but Terrell considered her compliance to be only sporadic.
