Opinion
No. 2-946 / 02-1662.
Filed December 11, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, SUSAN FLAHERTY, Associate Juvenile Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. AFFIRMED.
Leslie Stokke, Cedar Rapids, for appellant mother.
Michael Lindeman, Cedar Rapids, for father
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, and David Thompson, County Attorney, for appellee State.
Judith Jennings-Hoover, Marion, guardian ad litem for the minor child.
Considered by SACKETT, C.J., and MILLER and EISENHAUER, JJ.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her son pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(g) (Supp. 2001). She contends termination was improper because the Department of Human Services (DHS) not adequately provide services to support a family reunification. Our review is de novo. In re R.R., 471 N.W.2d 821, 824 (Iowa 1991).
This child endured terrible trauma in the three months he was subjected to his biological parents, and it would serve no purpose to recount these details here. The basis for the mother's appeals concerns the services provided by the DHS. Although Iowa Code section 232.102(7) requires the Department of Human Services to make reasonable efforts to return a child to their parent, the reasonable efforts requirement is not a strict substantive requirement for termination. In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 493 (Iowa 2000). Instead, the services provided by the DHS to reunify parent and child after removal impacts the State's burden of proving the child cannot be safely returned to the care of a parent. Id. Here, overwhelming evidence supports the district court's determination that the child cannot be safely returned to his mother's care. Accordingly, we affirm.