IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 16-0179
Filed April 27, 2016
IN THE INTEREST OF L.D.,
Minor Child,
J.D., Father,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Joseph W. Seidlin,
District Associate Judge.
A father appeals from the order terminating his parental rights.
AFFIRMED.
Charles E. Isaacson of Charles Isaacson Law P.C., Des Moines, for
appellant father.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee State.
John P. Jellineck, Des Moines, for minor child.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Tabor, JJ.
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DANILSON, Chief Judge.
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights. 1 We find the child
could not be returned to the father’s custody at the time of the termination
hearing and termination is in the child’s best interests. Although the father has
the capabilities to be a good parent, over the course of three years he has not
sufficiently followed directives and orders, nor stepped up to the plate to
successfully complete therapy and counseling. His method to overcome a drug
addiction was to turn to alcohol. His recent limited measure of success is simply
too little too late. We therefore affirm.
The child was born in May 2012 and came to the attention of the
department of human services (DHS) in August 2012 when the mother attempted
suicide while the child was in her care. At that time the parents had each been
arrested for domestic abuse assault against the other. Both had substance
abuse issues.
Voluntary services were provided to the parents and, on July 16, 2013, the
child was adjudicated a child in need of assistance (CINA) when the parents
stipulated there were ongoing issues of domestic violence, alcohol and
substance abuse, and mental health issues. The family continued to receive
services to address substance abuse and domestic violence.
On May 9, 2014, the juvenile court held a permanency hearing and
granted the parents a six-month extension to seek reunification with the child.
With respect to the father, the court ruled:
1
The mother’s rights were also terminated. Her appeal was dismissed by supreme court
order dated February 15, 2016.
3
The child will be able to return home within six (6) months if
the following specific factors, conditions and/or expected behavioral
changes are made, eliminating the need for the child’s removal
from the home:
[Father]: obtain a mental health evaluation and follow any
and all treatment recommendations; maintain frequent and active
participation in individual therapy, demonstrat[e] insight as to
relationship and domestic violence issues, and how they affect safe
parenting of [L.D.]; maintain frequent and active participation in
couples therapy with [the mother] so long as [the father] and [the
mother] intend to remain a couple and parent [L.D.] together in the
same home; demonstrate a clean and sober lifestyle by maintaining
frequent and active participation in substance abuse treatment
pursuant to recommendations of a treatment program, abstaining
from use of narcotics, opiates and alcohol, complying with DHS
requests for drug screens, and notifying DHS of all prescriptions,
signing any necessary releases to allow DHS to determine whether
prescribing providers know of his addiction and methadone use;
demonstrate safe and appropriate housing for the child.
On August 12, 2014, a permanency review hearing was held. The father
did obtain a mental health evaluation in June 2014, which recommended that he
participate in ongoing treatment. As of August, he had attended only two
appointments. The father remained on a methadone regimen “with no current
plan to decrease [the] dosage.” The mother and father had been to couples
counseling, but were advised they should work in individual therapy before they
would be ready to engage again in therapy as a couple. The court continued the
child’s out-of-home placement.
On February 13, 2015, the court modified the permanency order placing
the child in the mother’s custody, with visitation by the father at DHS’s discretion.
The child was removed from the mother in June, however, because it was
learned that, contrary to the mother’s assertions, the parents continued to be in a
relationship that was volatile, the mother was allowing the father unsupervised
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visits with the child, and the father, while on his methadone regimen, was
continuing to use illegal substances (“opiates and benzos”).
In the July 1, 2015 modification of disposition order, the court noted the
father “is not engaging in meaningful therapy and has not been exercising
consistent, professionally supervised visits” with the child. Further, the court
observed:
4. . . . The history detailed above shows very clearly that
when [the mother and the father] are together, dysfunction, chaos
and instability ensues. We are at that point again. After almost 3
years of services, these parents are still not able to be together and
protect [the child] from the risk of harm stemming from ongoing
drug abuse and mental health issues. Removal on June 4, 2015,
was and remains necessary.
5. The child shall remain in out of home placement.
Placement outside the parents’ homes is necessary because a
return to the home would be contrary to the child’s welfare in that
the father has unresolved substance abuse issues and is not
engaging in services; the parents have unresolved domestic
violence issues; and the mother is not protecting the child through
her and the child’s renewed interactions with the father without
seeking DHS input or approval or following reasonable DHS
directives regarding supervision of father’s contact with child.
The court found reasonable efforts had been made to eliminate the need
for removal and supplemented the case plan. The court ordered the parents
were to comply with Family Safety, Risk, and Permanency services, provide drug
screens at DHS discretion, participate in individual therapy and couples
counseling when recommended by their therapists, and the father was to comply
with substance abuse treatment and methadone program.
A dispositional review hearing was held on October 23, 2015. The DHS
report to the court submitted at that hearing noted the father had tested positive
for opiates on February 16, 2015; for benzodiazepines on May 22, 2015; and for
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amphetamines on June 25, 2015. Though reportedly on methadone, he had
tested negative for methadone on February 4 and June 22, 2015.2 The father
had resumed attending group substance abuse meetings in September 2015.
After the hearing, the court continued current orders, found reasonable
reunification efforts had been made, and scheduled a permanency hearing for
December 18, 2015.
On November 16, the State filed a petition to terminate parental rights.
On December 11, the father filed a motion for hearing on reasonable
efforts, asserting DHS was withholding visitation despite that he had submitted
clean drug screens since the last hearing.
A permanency and termination hearing was held on December 18. The
DHS report to the court for that hearing noted that the father continued to be on a
dosage of methadone. He had not been attending regularly scheduled
appointments with his outpatient counselor, and his counselor reported he had
attempted to contact the father on at least five occasions about the appointment
scheduled for December 11, 2015. The report also indicated the father was not
following through with individual therapy, the mother and father were inconsistent
in therapy, and had not adequately dealt with domestic violence concerns. The
report also noted the parents continued to use alcohol together. Stress, fighting
with the child’s mother, and alcohol use were all identified by the father as
“triggers” to potential relapse.
2
At the termination hearing, the father admitted he had relapsed on opiates, “benzos,”
and had used Adderall, and that he had submitted at least one “fake” urine sample
during this time.
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The father testified he and the mother were living together at that time. He
stated he had been attending therapy—couples therapy and individual—for the
last several weeks. The father testified he had not used illegal substances since
June 2015. He acknowledged he continued to consume alcoholic beverages
despite being told by his substance abuse counselor he should not and the
court’s order that he not do so. He acknowledged he had not attended
substance abuse treatment regularly since June 2015. The father is employed
but has paid no financial support for L.D.
The father appeals from the subsequent order terminating his parental
rights to his three-year-old child, pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(d)
and (h) (2015). The juvenile court’s January 15, 2016 ruling is thoughtful,
thorough, and well-reasoned. Upon our de novo review, see In re A.M., 843
N.W.2d 100, 110 (Iowa 2014), we fully agree with the juvenile court’s findings
and conclusions that termination is appropriate pursuant to section 232.116(1)(h)
(child three or under adjudicated CINA who has been out of parent’s custody for
at least six of the last twelve months and cannot be returned at present), and in
the child’s best interests. See In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 495 (Iowa 2000)
(“Once the [statutory] limitation period lapses, termination proceedings must be
viewed with a sense of urgency. Insight for the determination of the child’s long-
range best interests can be gleaned from ‘evidence of the parent’s past
performance for that performance may be indicative of the quality of the future
care that parent is capable of providing.’” (citation omitted)). Because we affirm
on that basis, we need not address whether termination is also appropriate under
subsection “d.” See In re D.W., 791 N.W.2d 703, 707 (Iowa 2010). Repetition of
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the findings and conclusions by the juvenile court, with which we concur, would
serve no useful purpose.
AFFIRMED.