IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 21-1369
Filed November 23, 2021
IN THE INTEREST OF J.T.,
Minor Child,
M.W., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lynn Poschner, District
Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. AFFIRMED.
Deborah L. Johnson of Deborah L. Johnson Law Office, P.C., Altoona, for
appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Ellen Ramsey-Kacena, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee State.
Erin Romar, Des Moines, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Vogel, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206
(2021).
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VOGEL, Senior Judge.
The mother of J.T., born September 2020, appeals the termination of her
parental rights.1 When J.T. was just one day old, she was removed from her
mother’s care under an ex parte removal order. One week later, after a removal
hearing, the juvenile court found:
The child’s life or health would be in imminent danger if returned to
the custody of a parent because: [the mother] has been involved with
[the Iowa Department of Human Services] as a parent since 2015.
Her parental rights were terminated to two children in two separate
actions in 2017 and to another child in May, 2019. The reasons for
prior court involvement have been [the mother’s] mental health,
parenting capacity and skills, and association with dangerous
individuals . . . placing her infant children at risk. Lack of participation
in visits, stable housing, and lack of participation in mental health
services have also been factors. [The mother] currently has an open
[child-in-need-of-assistance] case with another child. In that matter
she has not progress[ed] past supervised visits.
Numerous services were offered to the mother, as well as the services
already in place from the ongoing juvenile case involving one of the mother’s other
children. On November 6, 2020, the juvenile court adjudicated J.T. a child in need
of assistance after finding the mother’s mental health had not improved to the
extent that she could safely parent J.T. After a review hearing on June 28, 2021,
the court found:
Placement outside the parental home is necessary because a return
to the home would be contrary to the child’s welfare due to [the
mother’s] unresolved mental health issues which lead to instability
and association with dangerous individuals and interfere with
consistent and safe parenting. [The mother] has not been
consistently attending visits with [J.T.] or attending her routine
medical appointments. . . . There is a pattern of [the mother]
associating with chaos and many different individuals she does not
1The parental rights of two named men “and any unknown putative fathers” were
also terminated. None appeal.
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seem to know well. [The mother] has not gained the skills to discern
safe from unsafe people.
With little to no progress in the mother’s ability to safely care for J.T., the
State filed a petition to terminate the mother’s parental rights on June 29, 2021.
The matter came on for hearing on August 17, and on September 13 the juvenile
court ordered the termination of the mother’s parental rights under Iowa Code
section 232.116(1)(g) and (h) (2021). The mother appeals.
“We review termination of parental rights proceedings de novo.” In re J.H.,
952 N.W.2d 157, 166 (Iowa 2020). “While we are not bound by the juvenile court’s
factual findings, we accord them weight, especially in assessing witness
credibility.” Id. “‘[O]ur fundamental concern’ on review ‘is the child’s best
interests.’” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting In re J.C., 857 N.W.2d 495, 500 (Iowa
2014)). We employ a three-step statutory framework analysis on our de novo
review of termination-of-parental-rights cases. In re P.L., 778 N.W.2d 33, 40 (Iowa
2010).
“The first step in our analysis is to determine if a ground for termination
exists under section 232.116(1).” Id. The mother asserts the State failed to prove
her parental rights should be terminated under both Iowa Code section
232.116(1)(g) and (h). “When the juvenile court terminates parental rights on more
than one statutory ground, we may affirm the juvenile court’s order on any ground
we find supported by the record.” In re A.B., 815 N.W.2d 764, 774 (Iowa 2012).
We choose to review the mother’s assertion as to the proof under section
232.116(1)(h), which provides the court may terminate parental rights if it finds all
of the following:
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(1) The child is three years of age or younger.
(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 six months of the last twelve months,
or for the last six consecutive months and any trial period at home
has been less than thirty days.
(4) There is clear and convincing evidence that the child
cannot be returned to the custody of the child's parents as provided
in section 232.102 at the present time.
The mother only challenges the findings as to the fourth element, asserting
there was a lack of evidence presented that J.T. “would be subject to adjudicatory
harm” under Iowa Code section 232.2(6)(c)(2)2 if she were returned to the mother.
The mother participated in a psychological evaluation on March 3, 2021, after
which the clinical psychologist concluded the mother “meets the diagnostic criteria
for Borderline Intellectual Functioning.” On June 25, the mother’s therapist noted
that the mother “continues to engage and participate in individual therapy
services”; however:
[The mother] has and continues to struggle with keeping
appointments. I determined that telehealth session might be the
most appropriate form of therapy for her. [The mother’s] response
and interactions with this writer continue to be optimistic during the
sessions. However, she struggles in almost all aspects of her life
that include but are not limited to her family, significant other,
employment, housing, along with her long and extensive involvement
with the Department of Human Services and removal of her children
from her care. As I continue to process with [the mother] she
continues to have some insight into her situation. Still, she cannot
follow through with the skills and behaviors learned during previous
sessions. It appears [the mother] continues to have crisis after crisis
within her life that are concerning.
2 Iowa Code section 232.2(6)(c)(2) provides a child is in need of assistance if the
child “has suffered or is imminently likely to suffer harmful effects as a result of . . .
[t]he failure of the child’s parent, guardian, custodian, or other member of the
household in which the child resides to exercise a reasonable degree of care in
supervising the child.”
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The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) provided numerous services to
the mother, including the offer of four visits with J.T. each week. And while the
mother showed “positive parenting and interaction skills” during the visits, her lack
of regular attendance at the prearranged visits became problematic. The DHS
worker, after reviewing all the services offered to the mother, concluded that the
mother had “not been able to make enough progress in mental health treatment in
terms of stability in her relationships and unsafe situation with others” and
recommended her parental rights be terminated. The same DHS worker testified
at the termination hearing, standing by the comments and recommendations in her
report. We conclude on our de novo review of all the evidence, the State proved
by clear and convincing evidence the elements under Iowa Code section
232.1161(1)(h).
Next, the mother asserts the State failed to prove it was in J.T.’s best
interests to have the mother’s rights terminated. As the State points out, the
mother conflates Iowa Code section 232.116(2) and (3), by asserting the mother’s
claimed “bond” with J.T. should preclude termination because it is not in J.T.’s best
interests. In doing so, the mother does conflate the second and third steps of our
framework. See P.L., 778 N.W.2d at 40–41. Regardless, it is clear that J.T. needs
a stable home, free from the many challenges the mother continues to encounter
in her life. The record includes the early reports of the mother’s life shortly after
J.T. was born, as well as ongoing reports as to the mother’s lack of progress in
establishing a safe and stable environment for J.T. See In re J.E., 723 N.W.2d
793, 802 (Iowa 2006) (Cady, J., concurring specially) (stating that a child’s safety
and the child's need for a permanent home are the “defining elements” in
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determining a child's best interests). The juvenile court concluded the mother was
not able to provide J.T. with the stability she deserves and also that none of the
permissive factors under section 232.116(3) would preclude termination. We
agree and affirm.
AFFIRMED.
In the Interest of J.T., Minor Child
Combined Opinion