Opinion
No. 09-0204.
March 26, 2009.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John Mullen, Associate Juvenile Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children. AFFIRMED.
Timothy J. Tupper, Davenport, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Walton, County Attorney, and Gerda Lane, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by VOGEL, P.J., and VAITHESWARAN and EISENHAUER, JJ.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children. She contends the State failed to prove termination was appropriate pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e) (2007). The court terminated the mother's parental rights pursuant to sections 232.116(1)(e), (f), (h), (k), and ( l). We need only find termination proper under one ground to affirm. In re R.R.K., 544 N.W.2d 274, 276 (Iowa Ct.App. 1995). Because the mother does not dispute termination under sections 232.116(1)(f), (h), (k) and ( l), we affirm.
The mother also contends termination is not in the children's best interest. Upon our de novo review, In re C.H., 652 N.W.2d 144, 147 (Iowa 2002), we disagree. Following five years of services, the mother's situation remains largely unchanged. She has a lengthy history of substance abuse, unstable housing, and erratic employment. The mother has demonstrated poor decision making and an inability to adequately parent all four children at the same time. As the district court noted, at the time of their removal from the mother's care, the children "were evidencing emotional and behavioral problems by virtue of the lifestyle, living environment and parenting style to which the mother exposed them."
At the termination hearing, the mother testified that she would need additional time to reunify with the children. Children should not be forced to endlessly await the maturity of a natural parent. In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 494 (Iowa 2000). At some point, the rights and needs of the child rise above the rights and needs of the parent. In re J.L.W., 570 N.W.2d 778, 781 (Iowa Ct.App. 1997). The children need permanency. That permanency can be best achieved by terminating the mother's parental rights and allowing them to be adopted. Accordingly, we affirm.