Opinion
No. 1-612 / 11-0909
08-10-2011
IN THE INTEREST OF K.P., Minor Child, A.P., Mother, Appellant.
Adam W. Blank of Pillers and Richmond, DeWitt, for appellant mother. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, Mike Wolf, County Attorney, and Cheryl Newport, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State. Edward J. Kross of Van Scoy & Kross, P.C., Clinton, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor child.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Phil Tabor, District Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the district court's ruling terminating her parental rights. AFFIRMED.
Adam W. Blank of Pillers and Richmond, DeWitt, for appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, Mike Wolf, County Attorney, and Cheryl Newport, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State.
Edward J. Kross of Van Scoy & Kross, P.C., Clinton, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Potterfield and Danilson, JJ. Tabor, J., takes no part. VOGEL, P .J.
Angela appeals the district court's order terminating her parental rights to her child, K.P. (born 2007). K.P. was removed in July 2010, and adjudicated a child in need of assistance (CINA) in September 2010. Following a hearing in May 2011, which Angela did not attend, the district court terminated her rights under Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(b), (d), (e), (h), and (i) (2011).
The parental rights of the biological father of K.P. were also terminated and he does not appeal.
Our review of termination of parental rights cases is de novo. In re J.E., 723 N.W.2d 793, 798 (Iowa 2006).
On appeal, Angela does not contest the statutory grounds for termination of her parental rights. She appeals only whether termination serves the best interests of the child, citing a close bond with K.P. Even if a statutory ground for termination is met, a decision to terminate must still be in the best interests of a child after a review of Iowa Code section 232.116(2). In re P.L., 778 N.W.2d 33, 37, 40 (Iowa 2010). Angela was offered a host of services to work toward reunification, but she failed to comply with nearly every service offered. Children need stability and permanency, and based on the evidence in the record the only way K.P. can achieve that is to terminate Angela's parental rights. In re L.L., 459 N.W.2d 489, 495 (Iowa 1990) ("Children simply cannot wait for responsible parenting."); In re J.E., 723 N.W.2d 793, 801 (Iowa 2006) (Cady, J., concurring specially) ("A child's safety and the need for a permanent home are now the primary concerns when determining a child's best interests."). We are also not convinced there was a strong parent-child bond at the time of the termination hearing where the mother missed all but eleven of the last fifty-eight visitations, left the state one month prior to the hearing, and failed to attend the hearing. The record clearly demonstrates Angela is utterly incapable of caring for K.P. and termination of Angela's parental rights was therefore in K.P.'s best interests as set forth under the factors in section 232.116(2).
AFFIRMED.