CHINS: D C v. Indiana Department of Child Services

── CHINS: D C v. Indiana Department of Child Services ── Court: Indiana Court of Appeals Date: May 12, 2026 Author: Nancy Vaidik Category: General IN THE Court of Appeals of Indiana In the Matter of N.C. (Minor Child), FILED May 12 2026, 9:16 am A Child in Need of Services CLERK Indiana Supreme Court and Court of Appeals and Tax Court D.C. (Father), Appellant-Respondent v. Indiana Department of Child Services, Appellee-Petitioner and Kids’ Voice of Indiana, Appellee-Guardian Ad Litem May 12, 2026 Court of Appeals Case No. 25A-JC-2526 Appeal from the Marion Superior Court The Honorable Tara Y. Melton, Judge The Honorable Leon A. Keith, Magistrate Trial Court Cause No. 49D15-2501-JC-750 Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-JC-2526 | May 12, 2026 Page 1 of 22  Opinion by Judge Scheele Judges Bailey and Vaidik concur. Scheele, Judge. Case Summary [1] D.C. (Father) appeals, following the trial court’s determination that his daughter, N.C. (Child), is a Child in Need of Services (CHINS). Father raises four issues, which we restate as the following three: 1. Whether Indiana Code section 31-34-21-5.6 is unconstitutional; 2. Whether the court abused its discretion in entering a no reasonable efforts finding and denying Father’s motion to reconsider; 3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to prove Child is a CHINS. We affirm. Facts and Procedural History [2] In May 2006, Father was convicted of molesting J.C., his then eight-year-old daughter. His conviction was classified as Class C felony child molesting pursuant to Indiana Code section 35-42-4-3(b) (2006), and he was required to register on Indiana’s Sex and Violent Offender Registry (Sex Offender Registry) Court of Appeals of Indiana | Opinion 25A-JC-2526 | May 12, 2026 Page 2 of 22  for life. See Petitioner’s Ex. 2; Tr. Vol. II pp. 10-11. Father later told J.C. that she “ruined his life” by reporting the sexual abuse because he “can’t get a job, a house, [a] car . . . because of his felony” conviction. Id. at 83. When J.C. was an adult, Father said he molested her because she “was his first child and that he did not know how to love [her] correctly and that drugs controlled his life[.]” Id. at 84. [3] In December 2020, Child was born to Father and S.C. (Mother). 1 Father struggled with housing stability and registered as “homeless” on the Sex Offender Registry four or five times between 2021 and 2025. Id. at 36. And from May 2023 through March 2024, Father was incarcerated following a possession of cocaine conviction; Mother was Child’s primary caregiver during that time. [4] In October 2024, the Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) assessed a report that alleged concerns for homelessness and Mother’