Opinion
No. 08-0973.
August 27, 2008.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary Jane Sokolovske, Judge.
A father appeals from a juvenile court order terminating his parental rights to a child. AFFIRMED.
John S. Moeller of O'Brien, Galvin Moeller, Sioux City, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, Patrick Jennings, County Attorney, and David Dawson, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Angela Kayl, Sioux City, for mother.
Rosalynd Koob, Sioux City, for paternal grandmother.
Martha McMinn, Sioux City, guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Miller and Potterfield, JJ.
Cory, the father of a male child born in December of 2006, appeals from an order terminating his parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(d), (h), and (i) (2005). He contends there is not clear and convincing evidence supporting the termination. We affirm.
SCOPE OF REVIEW. Termination proceedings are reviewed de novo. In re N.M., 528 N.W.2d 94, 96 (Iowa 1995). We give weight to the findings of the juvenile court, but are not bound by them. Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(6)( g). The decision to sever the biological ties between parent and child legally is an issue of grave importance with serious repercussions both to the child and to the biological parents. In re R.B., 493 N.W.2d 897, 899 (Iowa Ct.App. 1992). We require the State to prove by clear and convincing evidence the statutory grounds have been met. Iowa Code §§ 232.116(1); 232.117(2), (3); In re T.A.L., 505 N.W.2d 480, 481 (Iowa 1993). For evidence to be "clear and convincing," there must be no serious or substantial doubt about the correctness of conclusions drawn from it. Raim v. Stancel, 339 N.W.2d 621, 624 (Iowa Ct.App. 1983). When the district court terminates parental rights on more than one statutory ground, we need find grounds to terminate under only one of the sections cited by the court to affirm. In re A.J., 553 N.W.2d 909, 911 (Iowa Ct.App. 1996); In re R.R.K., 544 N.W.2d 274, 276 (Iowa Ct.App. 1995).
BACKGROUND. The child twice was removed from the custody of his mother, the last time because she abandoned the child. Cory has had little contact with the child, who in May of 2007 was found to be a child in need of assistance, and his custody was transferred to the Iowa Department of Human Services for placement in family foster care. On January 28, 2008, the State filed a petition for termination of the child's parents' parental rights.
The matter came on for hearing and the juvenile court found that Cory has been unable to demonstrate an ability to provide a safe, nurturing, and healthy environment for the child despite the offer and receipt of services to address a number of issues. The court found, among other things, Cory initially refused to divulge where he was living and he lives with a woman and her children who were the subject of a child protective services investigation in late 2007 when there were allegations that Cory shot a six-year-old child in the back with a BB gun. The court noted the home was found to be unsafe for young children and the girlfriend, who is pregnant with Cory's child, suffers from anxiety disorders and was hospitalized in September 2007 after making threats of suicide. The court further found Cory has been unable to maintain stable employment and his parenting skills have been determined to be inadequate. The court found clear and convincing evidence supported the termination. These findings and others made in the juvenile court's order terminating Cory's parental rights are supported by the evidence. We, as did the juvenile court, find clear and convincing evidence supports the termination of Cory's parental rights. We affirm.