Opinion
No. 4-524 / 04-0891.
July 28, 2004.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Arlen J. VanZee, District Associate Judge.
A mother appeals from a juvenile court order terminating her parental rights to three children. AFFIRMED.
Jeffrey L. Farwell of Farwell Bruhn, Clinton, for appellant-mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Katherine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, Mike L. Wolf, County Attorney and Ross Barlow, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee-State.
William S. Vilmont, Clinton, for appellee-father.
Thomas D. Lonergan of Mayer, Mayer, Lonergan Rolfes, Clinton, guardian ad litem for S.D.
Steven D. Haufe, Clinton, guardian ad litem for I.W. and M.W.
Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Miller and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
Lori is the mother of three children, Stephanie, Isabella, and Mariah, born in July 2003, August 2001, and November 1998, respectively. She appeals from a May 26, 2004 juvenile court order terminating her parental rights to the children. (The juvenile court also terminated the parental rights of the three children's three fathers, but they are not parties to this appeal.) Lori claims the grounds for termination were not proven by clear and convincing evidence, and more specifically that the juvenile court erred in finding that the children could not be returned to her custody. We affirm.
We review termination proceedings de novo. Although we are not bound by them, we give weight to the trial court's findings of fact, especially when considering credibility of witnesses. The primary interest in termination proceedings is the best interests of the child. To support the termination of parental rights, the State must establish the grounds for termination under Iowa Code section 232.116 by clear and convincing evidence.
In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 492 (Iowa 2000) (citations omitted).
Lori became pregnant with her first child, Jacob, when she was twenty-one years of age in 1993. Jacob came to the attention of the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) in 1995, suffering from unexplained bruises and later from lack of adequate supervision. Lori received services, but was unable to learn necessary parenting skills and provide appropriate parenting. Her parental rights to Jacob were terminated in 1998.
Between 1999 and early 2003 Lori was the subject of several reports of abuse and/or neglect of her children. Most of the reports were unconfirmed, but some were confirmed. In January 2003 Mariah had a slap mark on her face and miscellaneous marks on her legs. On February 4, 2003, Isabella had bruises all over her body. A physician opined the bruises were the result of physical abuse. Isabella and Mariah were removed from Lori's physical custody and placed in the legal custody of the DHS for placement in family foster care. They have remained in family foster care thereafter.
Stephanie was born in July 2003. On August 31, 2003, she was seen in a hospital emergency room suffering from a bruised and swollen right arm. She was found to have calcification on her right elbow, the possible result of a fracture. Stephanie's father, Lori's then-most-recent paramour, eventually admitted that he may have caused the injury by forcibly removing Stephanie from a swing in a rough manner. On September 2, 2003, Stephanie's father and Lori executed a "Voluntary Foster Care Placement Agreement." By subsequent juvenile court order Stephanie was placed in the legal custody of the DHS for family foster care effective September 2, 2003. She has remained in family foster care thereafter.
The juvenile court adjudicated Isabella and Mariah to be children in need of assistance (CINA) on June 25, 2003, and adjudicated Stephanie to be a CINA on December 2, 2003, adjudicating all three pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.2(6)(b) (2003) (child whose parent or household member has physically abused or neglected the child or is imminently likely to do so). Following a May 3 and 10, 2004 hearing the juvenile court terminated Lori's parental rights to Stephanie and Isabella pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(d) and (h), and terminated her parental rights to Mariah pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f).
Lori has a history of abusing illegal controlled substances, including marijuana, crystal methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and barbiturates. She claims to have not used any of these substances in the last ten years. She also has a history of alcohol abuse. A May 5, 2003 report indicated the result of psychological testing suggested Lori continued to "fall in the high range for drug dependence."
Lori has a long and serious history of alcohol use and abuse. She started using alcohol at age sixteen. She has been treated for alcohol abuse some six to eight times, including at least five inpatient treatment programs within the last ten years. She asserted to the DHS and service providers during the CINA proceedings that she was not drinking. She was, however, arrested for operating while intoxicated in February 2004 and later admitted she had been regularly drinking a twelve-pack of beer two or three times per week since at least September 2003. She had her most recent inpatient treatment program in the spring of 2004, after her OWI arrest. Her inpatient counselor recommended follow-up halfway house placement and treatment. Lori, however, rejected that recommendation, deciding on her own that outpatient follow-up would suffice.
Despite years of parent skill training and other services, first relating to Jacob and more recently relating to the three children in interest in this case, Lori is unable to effectively parent her children. Her inability to learn and apply necessary skills is the result of several factors. She has a full scale IQ of sixty-seven, and very modest and limited intellectual ability. Lori also has mental, emotional, and personality problems. She has been diagnosed as suffering from mood disorder, alcohol abuse, polysubstance abuse (by history), mild mental retardation, and a personality disorder with prominent antisocial and negativistic traits. Lori has difficulty focusing and staying on task. She is able, with substantial prompting and effort, to understand and briefly apply certain concepts regarding children and parenting. However, she is unable to retain and use such information more than briefly. Service providers indicate she is unable to retain and apply tomorrow what she has learned and briefly been able to apply today.
To support termination of a parent's parental rights under Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(h) (Isabella and Stephanie) and (f) (Mariah) the State must prove: (1) the child is of a certain age, (2) the child has been adjudicated a CINA, (3) the child has been removed from the physical custody of the child's parents for a specified period of time, and (4) the child cannot be returned to the custody of the parent at the present time without being subject to adjudicatory harm. Only the fourth element of each provision is at issue in this case.
Lori believes she is capable of having custody of Stephanie but readily and frankly acknowledges that she is not capable of more and that she needs additional time to attempt to acquire necessary parenting skills. However, we conclude the evidence clearly and convincingly shows that additional time will not remedy the shortcomings and deficiencies which led to the termination of her parental rights to Jacob and the ongoing need to place her other children in foster family care. Lori has limited intellectual capacity and functioning and suffers from numerous psychological and personality disorders. As a result, despite years of services she has been unable to acquire and attain information and skills necessary to allow her to parent her children. As a further result she has placed the children in situations in which they have been exposed to and subjected to physical abuse and neglect. The children cannot be returned to Lori at the present time without being exposed to the imminent likelihood of physical abuse or neglect and a lack of adequate supervision.
Having found the State proved the grounds for termination under section 232.116(1)(h) (Isabella and Stephanie) and (f) (Mariah), we need not determine whether the State also proved the grounds for termination of Lori's parental rights to Isabella and Stephanie under section 232.116(1)(d). See In re A.J., 553 N.W.2d 909, 911 (Iowa Ct.App. 1996).
Stephanie has been removed from Lori for all but the first seven weeks of her life and is doing well in family foster care. Isabella is thriving in foster care, and is attached to the children's foster family. Mariah was non-compliant with adult direction and defied Lori. Her compliance and acceptance of direction have improved in foster care. The foster family is interested in adoption. We conclude termination of Lori's parental rights is in the children's best interest so they may acquire the permanency, stability, and security they need and deserve.
AFFIRMED.