Opinion
No. 2-848 / 02-1307
Filed October 16, 2002
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Karla Fultz, Associate Juvenile Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. AFFIRMED.
Marla Suddreth, Bondurant, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, and Jennifer Galloway, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee-State.
Amy Kepes, Youth Law Center, Des Moines, for minor child.
Considered by Hecht, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and Eisenhauer, JJ.
Suzaine is the mother of Sarah, born in 1996, and Caleb, born in 1998. She appeals the termination of her parental rights to both children. On our de novo review, we find clear and convincing evidence to support termination of her parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e) (child cannot be returned to home) (2000).
This provision is now contained at Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (Supp. 2001).
The children were removed from their mother's care after Sarah disclosed that she had been inappropriately touched by a person her mother knew to be a sex offender. Sarah was placed with her father and Caleb with his paternal grandparents.
More than a year after the removal, the Department of Human Services determined that Suzaine was "no closer to being in a position to regain custody of her children than when the children were removed. . . ." She exercised visitation with her children but was never advanced from supervised to unsupervised visitation. She attended therapy sessions, but failed to acknowledge that she placed her children at risk by inviting a known sexual perpetrator to live in her home. She made strides toward addressing her substance abuse problems, but moved in with her reportedly alcoholic brother and became engaged to a man with a history of alcohol abuse.
In light of this evidence, we agree with the juvenile court that the children could not be returned to Suzaine. As we may affirm if we find support for any one of the grounds cited by the juvenile court, we find it unnecessary to address Suzaine's remaining arguments. See In re S.R., 600 N.W.2d 63, 64 (Iowa Ct.App. 1999).