In the Interest of V.J., Minor Child ( 2018 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 18-1769
Filed December 19, 2018
IN THE INTEREST OF V.J.,
Minor Child,
M.J., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Colin J. Witt, District
Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her minor child.
AFFIRMED.
Aaron H. Ginkens of Ginkens Law Firm, PLC, West Des Moines, for
appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Meredith L. Lamberti, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee State.
Paul L. White of the Des Moines Juvenile Public Defender Office, Des
Moines, guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.
2
VAITHESWARAN, Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, born in
2017. She contends (1) the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited
by the district court, (2) termination was not in the child’s best interests, and (3) her
rights should not have been terminated given the closeness of the parent-child
bond.
I. Grounds for Termination
The district court terminated the mother’s parental rights pursuant to two
statutory grounds. We may affirm if we find clear and convincing evidence to
support either ground. In re D.W., 791 N.W.2d 703, 707 (Iowa 2010). On our de
novo review, we find clear and convincing evidence to support termination under
Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2018), which requires proof of several elements,
including proof the child cannot be returned to the parent’s custody.
The mother has a long history of substance abuse. She was arrested on
drug-related charges in 2016 and, as part of her criminal case, was admitted to an
intensive substance-abuse treatment program. She gave birth to a child while at
the treatment facility. Days later, the department of human services filed a child-
in-need-of-assistance petition alleging, in part, that “methamphetamine related
reasons” led to the mother’s prior involvement in juvenile court with respect to three
other children.
The district court adjudicated the child in need of assistance but declined to
remove him from the mother’s custody. The child remained with the mother at the
treatment facility.
3
When the child was seven months old, the State moved to modify his
placement. The State alleged the mother had two positive drug screens and
admitted to methamphetamine use which, in the State’s view, presented an
imminent risk to the child’s health and safety. The district court granted the motion.
The mother was discharged from the treatment facility. Within two months,
she was arrested for a probation violation and was eventually imprisoned. At the
time of the termination hearing, she remained incarcerated.
The mother testified she did not anticipate being released from prison for
two to three months. She agreed she was not in a position to have the child placed
in her custody immediately or in the near term. She believed she would need six
months to work toward reunification. By her own admission, then, section
232.116(1)(h)(4) is satisfied.
II. Best Interests
Termination is in the child’s best interests. D.W., 791 N.W.2d at 706–07.
The mother had an extended opportunity to learn how to safely parent her child at
the inpatient treatment facility. She squandered that opportunity. As the district
court stated, “[T]ime is up.” We agree the child’s best interests are served by
terminating the mother’s parental rights.
III. Parent-Child Bond
The mother invokes an exception to termination based on the closeness of
the parent-child bond. Id. at 709; see also Iowa Code § 232.116(3)(c). The mother
sundered that bond when the child was six months old. We agree with the district
court that the exception should not “carry the day.”
4
We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights to the child.
AFFIRMED.