Opinion
No. 2-687 / 01-1752
Filed September 11, 2002
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, James Brown, Judge.
Father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his son. AFFIRMED.
Tiffany Koenig and Christopher Kragnes, Sr., Des Moines, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Janet Hoffman, Assistant Attorney General, John Sarcone, County Attorney, and Jon Anderson, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee-State.
Pamela Vandel, Des Moines, guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Sackett, P.J., and Vogel and Mahan, JJ.
Lauren Sr. is the father of Lauren Jr., who was born on February 18, 1997. At the time of Lauren Jr.'s birth, his father was incarcerated on drug charges. On April 9, 2001, the juvenile court adjudicated Lauren Jr. to be a child in need of assistance (CINA). On July 11, 2001, the State filed a petition seeking to terminate Lauren Sr.'s parental rights. Lauren Sr. was still in prison at the time of the hearing on the termination petition and not eligible for parole until sometime in 2003. The court granted the petition and terminated Lauren Sr.'s parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(f) and (l) (Supp. 2001). Lauren Sr. appeals.
The State also terminated Lauren Jr.'s mother's parental rights. Her parental rights are not at issue in this appeal.
Formerly Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(e) and (k) (2001).
We review termination orders de novo. In re R.F., 471 N.W.2d 821, 824 (Iowa 1991). While the district court terminated the parental rights on more than one statutory ground, we only need to find grounds to terminate parental rights under one of them in order to affirm. In re R.R.K., 544 N.W.2d 274, 276 (Iowa Ct.App. 1995).
We conclude the court properly terminated Lauren Sr.'s parental rights pursuant to section 232.116(1)(l) which provides the court may terminate a parent's rights if: (1) the child has been adjudicated CINA, (2) the parent has a severe, chronic substance abuse problem and presents a danger to self or others, and (3) the child will not be able to be returned to the parent's custody within a reasonable period of time. Lauren Sr. only contests one element, that he has a severe, chronic drug problem.
We find the record replete with evidence of Lauren Sr.'s long-standing history of drug use and sales. Lauren Sr., forty-seven years old at the time of the hearing, admitted to having started smoking marijuana at age eighteen. For a time he used drugs daily, and at other times "every few days," or only occasionally. He also admitted to the use of methamphetamine and cocaine. Despite this admitted history of drug usage, Lauren Sr. denied having ever received inpatient or outpatient drug treatment, except one treatment course in 1997, while incarcerated. Lauren Sr. also served prison time for at least two drug-related convictions. He testified his current incarceration was due to his reverting to drug using and selling because he thought he, "could get away with it for a few months." His only admitted periods of abstinence appear to have occurred while he was incarcerated. Accordingly, we conclude clear and convincing evidence supports the finding Lauren Sr. has a severe, chronic substance abuse problem. See Iowa Code§ 232.116(1)(l).
Lauren Sr. also asserts the court erred in concluding termination was in Lauren Jr.'s best interests. We recognize that termination is not mandatory upon a finding that all of the applicable statutory elements have been met. In re E.B.L., 501 N.W.2d 547, 552 (Iowa 1993). In addition to meeting the statutory requirements for termination, the termination must be in the best interest of the child. In re T.Q., 519 N.W.2d 105 (Iowa Ct.App. 1994). We reject Lauren Sr.'s assertion termination was not in Lauren Jr.'s best interest. Based on the factors mentioned above, from Lauren Sr.'s extensive history of drug use and sales to his present incarceration, we concur with the juvenile court termination is in Lauren Jr.'s best interest.
Finally, Lauren Sr. maintains termination was inappropriate in that Lauren Jr. was in a preadoptive placement with Lauren Sr.'s cousin and his wife prior to the termination hearing. Iowa Code section 232.116(3)(a) (2001) provides "[t]he court need not terminate the relationship between the parent and the child if the court finds any of the following: a relative has legal custody of the child." Our court has found that a decision not to terminate under this code provision is within the discretion of the court, based upon the unique circumstances before it and the best interests of the child. In re C.L.H., 500 N.W.2d 449, 454 (Iowa Ct.App. 1993). We have already found that termination was in Lauren Jr.'s best interests. Thus, the court's decision to terminate, even with a relative placement, was not an abuse of discretion.
AFFIRMED.