In the Interest of L.E., M.S., J.E.F., N.S., and J.E.F., Minor Children, A.G., Mother ( 2016 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 15-1941
Filed January 27, 2016
IN THE INTEREST OF L.E., M.S., J.E.F., N.S., and J.E.F.,
Minor Children,
A.G., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J.
Holwerda, District Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the adjudication of her children as children in need of
assistance. AFFIRMED.
Meegan M. Keller of Keller Law Office, P.C., Altoona, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Bruce L. Kempkes, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Nicholas A. Bailey of Bailey Law Firm, P.L.L.C., Altoona, attorney and
guardian ad litem for minor children.
Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.
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BOWER, Judge.
A mother, S.H., appeals1 the juvenile court order adjudicating her children,
L.E., M.S., J.E.F., N.S., and J.E.F. in need of assistance (CINA) pursuant to Iowa
Code section 232.2(6)(c)(2) (2015). She claims the adjudication was not in the
children’s best interests. We affirm.
We review CINA proceedings de novo. See In re D.D., 653 N.W.2d 359,
361 (Iowa 2002). Although not bound by the juvenile court’s factual findings, we
give them weight, especially when considering the credibility of witnesses. See
In re K.N., 625 N.W.2d 731, 733 (Iowa 2001). “The most important consideration
in any CINA case is the best interest of the child.” D.D., 653 N.W.2d at 362. The
juvenile court issued a thorough and well-reasoned ruling adjudicating the
children CINA, and we adopt the findings of fact and conclusions of law in the
juvenile court’s order as our own.
The juvenile court adjudicated the children CINA pursuant to Iowa Code
section 232.2(6)(c)(2). Section 232.2(6)(c)(2) applies to a child “[w]ho has
suffered or is imminently likely to suffer harmful effects as a result of . . . [t]he
failure of the child’s parent . . . to exercise a reasonable degree of care in
supervising the child.” We may affirm if we find clear and convincing evidence
supports the grounds cited by the juvenile court. In re S.R., 600 N.W.2d 63, 64
(Iowa Ct. App. 1999).
The mother does not directly claim the adjudication was improper under
section 232.2(6)(c)(2); she instead argues, in general terms, the adjudication was
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The father of L.E., M.S., and N.S. does not appeal the adjudication. The father of
J.E.F. and J.E.F. does not appeal the adjudication.
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not in the best interests of the children. Regardless of how the mother has
framed her argument, we find clear and convincing evidence supports the district
court’s adjudication and the adjudication was in the children’s best interests. As
the juvenile court found:
Apparently the mother is not new to the DHS [(The
Department of Human Services)]. Prior to the May incidents, the
mother had six “founded” or “confirmed” Child Abuse Assessments
for “failure to provide proper supervision,” dating back to 1997. The
Assessments occurred in 1997, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2013,
and now two more in 2015. The Department also testified that the
mother has a pattern, if reports are filed, to relocate from county to
county or to place the children with others in order to avoid
services. Either coincidentally or predictably, when the May 2015
reports were filed, the mother placed [M.S.] and [N.S.] with a family
friend for several days before the father came and picked them up.
The mother seems to have addressed some of the
supervision issues and if this was a one-time event, the Court may
feel differently. However, this is not a one-time event. There are
now eight separate “founded” or “confirmed” incidents of “failure to
provide proper supervision” for this family, spanning 18 years, with
7 of the findings occurring in the last 10 years. Given the number
of contacts with the DHS, the repeated findings of the same thing—
lack of supervision, and the repeated risks to the children, the Court
is not convinced that a 4 month lapse in reporting is a guarantee of
success or an indicator that the mother truly understands what
proper supervision is, either when she is providing it for her children
or when she is arranging others to provide it for her children.
After 18 years and 6 “founded” or “confirmed” incidents of
failing to provide proper supervision, these young children are still
found away from home, playing by the street, without supervision,
and on multiple occasions. The Court finds clear and convincing
evidence that the children are likely to suffer harmful effects as a
result of the parent or other household member to exercise a
reasonable degree of care in supervising the children.
We affirm the juvenile court’s adjudication.
AFFIRMED.