IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 17-0148
Filed April 5, 2017
IN THE INTEREST OF C.L., H.L., M.S., and M.S.,
Minor children,
E.L., Mother,
Appellant,
R.S., Father,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Gregg R.
Rosenbladt, Judge.
A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental
rights. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.
Dylan J. Thomas, Mason City, for appellant mother.
Michael J. Moeller of Sorensen & Moeller Law Office, Clear Lake, for
appellant father.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and David M. Van Compernolle,
Assistant Attorney General, for appellee State.
David A. Grooters of Pappajohn, Shriver, Eide & Nielsen, P.C., Mason
City, guardian ad litem for minor children.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
2
VOGEL, Judge.
A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental
rights to their children. Finding the State proved the grounds for termination by
clear and convincing evidence and that termination was in the children’s best
interest, we affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings
C.L., born September 2000; H.L., born January 2004; M.E.S., born November
2001; and M.J.S.1, born October 2005, came to the attention of the Iowa
Department of Human Services (DHS) in 2007, upon allegations of physical
abuse and domestic violence. Over the course of the next few years, many
services were offered, specifically targeting the mental health and substance
abuse of the parents along with efforts to keep the children safe. The children
were removed from the home at different times, but in September 2014, H.L.,
M.E.S., and M.J.S. were returned to the mother’s care, and their child-in-need-of-
assistance cases were closed in January 2015 due to progress demonstrated by
the mother. C.L. was returned to the mother’s care in May 2015.
However, it was not long before the mother became resistant to services,
including refusing to let the child protective worker enter parts of her home and
garage. In August 2015, the DHS became aware the mother’s paramour and
another man were living in the mother’s home and there were allegations the
mother was smoking marijuana with her paramour. The mother denied use but
refused to participate in a drug screen requested by the DHS. Meanwhile, there
1
The father in this appeal is the biological parent of M.E.S. and M.J.S. The parental
rights of the fathers of C.L. and H.L. were also terminated; they do not appeal.
3
were reports the children were being exposed to pornography and were
engaging in sexual activity with one another.
On August 31, 2015, the children were removed from the home and placed in
foster care. The mother was ordered to cooperate with the DHS. In September
2015, the mother tested positive for methamphetamine; she admitted to using but
stated that her paramour was no longer living with her, and she refused to re-
engage in mental-health counseling. In October 2015, the child protective worker
observed signs of drug use in the mother and noted her paramour was still living
in the home. In January 2016, the mother began participating in family
preservation court. Through March 2016, she provided several drug screens that
were positive for methamphetamine and/or marijuana. She began inpatient
substance-abuse treatment and was discharged unsuccessfully multiple times
before ultimately completing inpatient treatment in May 2016. She transitioned to
outpatient services and resumed her relationship with her paramour.
The mother continued to provide positive drug screens through July 2016,
while denying use. Also in July 2016, her paramour was arrested for domestic
abuse assault. The mother reported her paramour had attempted to strangle her
and threw a pocket knife at her. In addition, throughout the pendency of the
case, the mother’s employment has been sporadic and her housing situation
unreliable.
The father’s participation in services has been inconsistent, and he has
been resistant to substance-abuse and mental-health treatment. The father has
had intermittent periods of supervised visitations with M.J.S. but has not
4
consistently participated in services since the DHS became involved in 2007
based on abuse allegations against him.
On July 7, 2016, after several years of offered services, the State filed a
petition to terminate the mother’s parental rights to all the children and the
father’s parental rights to his two children—M.E.S. and M.J.S. The matter first
came on for hearing on October 28 and concluded on October 31. On December
16, the district court ordered both the mother’s and the father’s parental rights
terminated under Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(e) and (f) (2016). Following the
mother’s and father’s motions under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904(2), the
court enlarged its original termination order and found the DHS had made
reasonable efforts to reunify the parents with their respective children. Both the
mother and father appeal.
II. Standard of Review
In reviewing termination-of-parental-rights proceedings, we apply a de novo
review, giving weight to the factual findings of the district court, while not being
bound by them. In re A.M., 843 N.W.2d 100, 110 (Iowa 2014).
III. Statutory Grounds for Termination
Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) permits termination if:
The court finds that all of the following have occurred:
(1) The child is four years of age or older.
(2) The child has been adjudicated a child in need of
assistance pursuant to section 232.96.
(3) The child has been removed from the physical custody of
the child’s parents for at least twelve of the last eighteen months, or
for the last twelve consecutive months and any trial period at home
has been less than thirty days.
(4) There is clear and convincing evidence that at the
present time the child cannot be returned to the custody of the
child’s parents as provided in section 232.102.
5
Both the father and the mother argue the State failed to prove the statutory
grounds for termination by clear and convincing evidence and the DHS failed to
make reasonable efforts towards reunification.2 The father also asserts the
district court should have granted him an additional six months to work towards
reunification. The mother also argues termination was not in the best interests of
the children and that a bond exists between her and the children that should
militate against termination. The State urges us to affirm the termination.
“When the juvenile court terminates parental rights on more than one
statutory ground, we need only find grounds to terminate under one of the
sections cited by the juvenile court to affirm.” In re S.R., 600 N.W.2d 63, 64
(Iowa Ct. App. 1999). Because the mother does not contest the statutory
elements under section 232.116(1)(f) on appeal, we affirm the termination of her
parental rights under that code section. Nonetheless, we include information
about the mother’s situation to show why the district court found the children
could not be returned to her care. In its final written report to the court prior to
the termination hearing, the DHS recommended termination, stating:
The children have been victimized on several occasions by [the
mother]’s husbands or paramours over the life of the case. They
have been physically, emotionally, and sexually abused by persons
they thought they could trust as well as by one another. They will
continue to require mental health services to address their trauma
issues.
2
The father alleges a vague due process violation with no specific argument, citation,
nor showing that such an argument was made before the district court. As such, we do
not address the issue. See Iowa. R. App. P. 6.903(2)(g)(3) (“Failure to cite authority in
support of an issue may be deemed waiver of that issue.”); see also Meier v. Senecaut,
641 N.W.2d 532, 537 (Iowa 2002) (“It is a fundamental doctrine of appellate review that
issues must ordinarily be both raised and decided by the district court before we will
decide them on appeal.”).
6
[The mother] has engaged in relationships with men that
have significantly and viciously abused her children. She has
repeatedly defended the men, including [the stepfather] and [her
paramour], and has been unable or unwilling to keep her children
safe from further abuse at their hands. [The mother] has told the
children she didn’t believe their trauma disclosures, has said that
the perpetrator is a good person and would never hurt her children,
and lied about maintaining those relationships when ordered not to.
[C.L.] was able to recognize this pattern several years ago and told
this worker and his mother that the children should not reside with
her if she had a boyfriend. It is an unfortunate pattern of behavior
that led to her children repeatedly being abused.
At this time, the children have been removed from their
mother’s care for fourteen consecutive months. The three younger
children were previously out of her care for approximately nineteen
months while [C.L]’s mental health and behavioral needs resulted in
his removal for twenty-one consecutive months and another twelve
months. No trial home visits have occurred since their 8/31/15
removal nor have visits progressed from supervised.
In regards to the father, the report stated:
[The father] has [not] demonstrated any consistent service
participation nor [has he] assumed an active parental role in the
children’s lives. [The father] does not have a permanent home. He
enjoys having visits with M.J.S. His past victimization of M.E.S.
resulted in the district court not allowing him to have any contact
with her. [The father] has not engaged in mental health services.
At the termination hearing, the child protective worker articulated concerns
about the children being placed back in the mother’s care:
[T[hese children have been traumatized repeatedly over the years,
and in my—my understanding from just conversations I’ve had with
[one of the social workers], you know, all of the kids are continuing
to suffer effects from what they have been through, and the last
thing they need is to be placed back into an environment where
there will be concerns for supervision, concerns for drug use,
concerns for choosing inappropriate partners to be around, you
know, around the children.
The social worker assigned to the case recommended termination for both the
mother and the father:
7
These children have endured more chaos and instability and harm
and unhappiness than I think almost any other kids I’ve ever
worked with have endured. And they have seen things. They have
experienced things. They have done things to each other that I
don’t know that most people would ever understand. And it’s not
fair to them, and it’s not fair to—to their futures. It’s not fair to their
future children for them to continue to be abused and for them to
not learn how to grow up to be safe, healthy, happy, young people,
young adults, parents, employees, all of those things. They won’t
be able to function if this kind of abuse continues to happen to
them. That’s what’s happening right now with M.E.S. At least
that’s my fear. They can’t—[t]hey just can’t continue it.
In its order terminating parental rights, the district court found:
[B]ased on the history of this case and the vast number of services
provided, that insufficient progress has been made to allow for
return of the children to the parental home of their mother or
father[. . .] at this time. [The mother] herself admits that some of
the children are not ready to come home and she is not ready to
have them home, but resists termination of her parental rights.
We agree with the district court that the record reveals grave concerns about
returning the children to the custody of either the mother or the father. The
mother has a long history of exposing her children to physical and emotional
abuse. Despite her progress in the initial stages of this case, the reports from the
last time the children were in her care are deeply troubling and include evidence
of the mother’s drug use, a relationship with a violent paramour, exposing the
children to inappropriate things, and failure to supervise the safety of the
children. Over the latter stages of this case, her participation in services has
been sporadic, and she has not made enough progress to allow the children to
be returned safely to her care. Regarding the father, the only participation he
has had over the last several years has been sporadic supervised visits with one
of his children. He has consistently failed to participate in services, fulfill any sort
of caretaker role, or provide a home that his children could be safely returned to.
8
His request for an additional six months thus rings hollow after he has failed to
engage in offered services for years. Thus, we affirm the termination of both the
mother’s and the father’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f).3
IV. Best Interest and Impediments to Termination
In accordance with Iowa Code sections 232.116(2) and (3), the district
court considered “whether proceeding with termination is in the best interest of
the child[ren]” and whether any exceptions existed that prevented termination.
The court stated:
The termination of parental rights would not be detrimental to the
children because there is a lack of closeness in the parent-child
relationship. None of the children over age [ten] objects to the
termination. The Court needs to give primary consideration to the
children’s safety, to the best placement for furthering their long-term
nurturing and growth, and to the physical, mental, and emotional
condition and needs of the children.
As demonstrated in the facts set forth above, the children’s
safety, and the best opportunity for furthering the children’s long-
term nurturing and growth, as well as the physical, mental, and
emotional condition and needs of the children support termination
of parental rights. Further, taking into account all of the facts and
possible exceptions to termination, there is no reason to believe the
children will be disadvantaged by the termination.
We agree termination was in the best interest of the children and nothing
militated against termination.
V. Conclusion
We agree the State proved by clear and convincing evidence the mother’s
parental rights to C.L., H.L., M.E.S., and M.J.S. and the father’s parental rights to
M.E.S. and M.J.S. should be terminated under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f).
3
Both the mother and the father appeal claiming the DHS failed to make efforts to
reunite them with their children. Our review of the record confirms the DHS offered a
variety of services over an extended period of time in an effort to help the mother and
the father reunite with their children. Thus, we reject both of these claims.
9
We also agree with the district court that termination was in the children’s best
interest. We therefore affirm the district court’s decision.
AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.