Child support guidelines apply in CINA case, rules MD Court of

A mother whose teen-age daughter was removed from her home as a child in need of assistance will get a reprieve, for now, from the $282 per month she was ordered to pay the state for the girl's support.The state's highest court vacated the child support order on due process grounds, holding that Katherine C.'s mother had not received adequate notice that support was to be on the agenda in a March 2005 CINA hearing.However, the Court of Appeals also held that the Maryland Child Support Guidelines may indeed be applied by a juvenile court in a CINA case to determine a parent's support obligation where the child is in the custody of a government agency.[T]hat obligation should not disappear when a child is adjudicated CINA and removed from parental custody and care, Judge Dale R. Cathell wrote for the court. Barbara T. Strong, who represented the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, was pleased with the mixed outcome.I think it's an excellent result, she said. The Court of Appeals clearly recognized that the child support guidelines were intended to apply to all child support cases within the financial limits set by the guidelines.Katherine C., 15, was determined to be a child in need of assistance in 2003 and placed in a residential treatment program. The girl's father, according to the opinion, had been abusing her sexually since she was 8.In a July 2004 hearing, the Montgomery County Circuit Court declined to order the mother to pay support and determined that the father had satisfied his obligation through December 2004 by paying nearly $10,000 into his attorney's trust account.After December 2004, the lower court stated, the parents' obligations would be subject to further review. By March 2005, Katherine's father had been sentenced to 16 years in jail for rape, child abuse and child pornography, which rendered him unable to pay child support. At a permanency plan review hearing that month, the court questioned the mother's attorney as to what her client might be able to contribute.Upon learning that Katherine's mother would soon be starting a job that paid $19,240 a year, the court applied the Maryland Child Support Guidelines and ordered her to pay $282 per month in child support. Counsel objected that it was unfair to base any order on [the mother's] representations as she had cognitive difficulties; and also that child support had not been on the agenda for the meeting.Taking the case before arguments in the Court of Special Appeals, the top court rejected the mother's claim that the guidelines did not apply in a CINA case where the child was in the custody of a government agency. Courts and Judicial Proceedings Section 3-819(l), which authorizes courts to order parents to reimburse the state for the support of a child, applies in CINA and non-CINA cases, Cathell wrote. Applying the Guidelines 'across the board,' regardless of whether a child is in the care of one of their parents or the State helps to ensure - consistency. The top court cautioned, however, that in such a case, the total payment given by the parents to the agency cannot exceed the actual cost to the agency of supporting the child.While the court vacated the support order, it did so without prejudice, so that the lower court could address the issue in the future if proper notice was given.As evidenced by the subject matter (permanency planning) of the September 22, 2004 hearing and resulting order, the March 21, 2005, hearing was scheduled to be a permanency plan review hearing, Cathell wrote. [A]ppellant was not given adequate notice, appropriate to the facts and the nature of the case, that the matter of child support would be addressed.CATHELL: CONSISTENCYWHAT THE COURT HELDCase:In Re: Katherine C., CA No. 32, Sept. Term 2005. Reported. Opinion by Cathell, J. Filed January 17, 2006.Issue:Did a circuit court err in applying Maryland's child support guidelines in a CINA case where the child was in the custody of the state? Did the court provide proper notice to the mother that support issues would be addressed?Holding:No; judgment vacated. A juvenile court in a CINA case may use the guidelines to calculate child support where the child is in the custody of a government agency but the amount of the total payment from the parents to the agency cannot exceed the actual costs.Counsel:Julia Doyle Bernhardt for appellant; Barbara T. Strong for appellee.

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