## Facts

- Stark County Welfare Department filed a dependency complaint for “Baby Girl Turner,” three days after her birth.
- The affidavit alleged Paulette Turner (also known as Paulette Swoveland), age 16, was the legal mother and Carl Swoveland was the legal father.
- Paulette previously had been adjudicated a delinquent child and placed on probation in her father’s custody.
- Paulette had participated in an irregular or sham wedding ceremony with Swoveland, who was a convicted criminal serving a prison sentence.
- Paulette became pregnant by a man other than Swoveland.
- Paulette opposed a dependency adjudication, arguing the statute could not apply because she had not yet had custody or physical control of the newborn.

## Issues

1. Whether a newborn may be adjudicated a “dependent child” based on the child’s prospective condition or environment, even if the parent has not yet exercised actual custody or control.
2. Whether evidence about the mother’s age, prior delinquency adjudication, and household circumstances may support a dependency finding for a three-day-old infant.

## Decision

- The juvenile court adjudicated the infant a dependent child under Ohio law.
- The court rejected the argument that prior parental custody or control is a prerequisite to dependency.
- The court ordered the infant committed to the custody of the county welfare authorities.

## Legal Principles

- Dependency focuses on whether the child’s “condition or environment” warrants state assumption of guardianship in the child’s interests, not on technical questions of past custody.
- A juvenile court may make a protective dependency adjudication for a newborn based on the environment into which the child would be placed, without waiting for actual neglect or harm to occur.
- The parent’s circumstances and household conditions (including instability reflected by prior delinquency adjudication and the absence of a stable parental situation) may be considered in determining whether the child’s environment warrants state intervention.

## Conclusion

The court held that a three-day-old infant could be found dependent based on the anticipated home environment and ordered the child placed in public custody, concluding that the statute does not require proof that the mother previously exercised custody or control before the state may intervene.


In re Turner, 12 Ohio Misc. 171, 231 N.E.2d 302 (Ohio C.P. Stark Cty. Juv. Ct. 1967)