In the Interest of D.T., Minor Child ( 2020 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 20-0334
Filed April 15, 2020
IN THE INTEREST OF D.T.,
Minor Child,
A.H., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David F. Staudt,
Judge.
A mother appeals the adjudication of her child as in need of assistance.
AFFIRMED.
Nina Forcier of Forcier Law Office PLLC, Waterloo, for appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Mary A. Triick, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee State.
Melissa Anderson-Seeber of the Juvenile Public Defender’s Office,
Waterloo, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Vogel, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206
(2020).
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VOGEL, Senior Judge.
In September 2019, shortly after D.T. was born, she was removed from her
mother’s care and placed with her maternal grandmother. The mother had been
receiving services from the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) since May
2018 because of severe and permanent injuries inflicted upon her then-infant son,
allegedly by the mother’s boyfriend. Because the mother had not been honest with
DHS concerning her pregnancy with D.T. and her continued relationship with the
boyfriend, D.T. was considered to be in imminent danger. A temporary removal
hearing was held, followed by a contested adjudicatory hearing. By order dated
December 9, D.T. was adjudicated a child in need of assistance (CINA) under Iowa
Code section 232.2(6)(c)(2) (2019). The mother participated in services offered
for reunification.
Following a January 17, 2020 dispositional hearing, the court continued
D.T.’s out-of-home placement while ordering continued services for the parents
and establishment of a plan to potentially transfer the child to the father’s home.1
The mother appeals.
We review CINA proceedings de novo. In re K.B., 753 N.W.2d 14, 15 (Iowa
2008). Based on the mother’s inability to be truthful with DHS workers, along with
her unresolved mental-health concerns, the juvenile court found in the dispositional
order: “It is contrary to the welfare of the minor child to be returned to the home of
her mother at this time. . . . [She] must be honest with the Department and gain
credibility in the hopes of potentially returning custody of [D.T.] to her.” The court
1The father was identified in December 2019 after submitting to genetic testing.
He does not appeal.
3
filed the dispositional order on February 7 and set a review hearing less than two
weeks hence, on February 20. The mother’s appeal only concerns the February
7 order, and anything that has occurred since that hearing is outside of this record.
See Iowa R. App. P. 6.204(1) (stating the record in a CINA appeal includes the
CINA court file and transcripts of any “hearings resulting in the order from which
an appeal has been taken”)
After our de novo review of the CINA record, including the testimony from
the September 30, 2019 removal hearing, the November 15 adjudicatory hearing,
and the January 17, 2020 dispositional hearing, we agree with the juvenile court’s
findings that clear and convincing evidence supports the adjudication of D.T. as
CINA and the continued adjudication and findings as stated in the February 7, 2020
dispositional order. We affirm without further opinion. See Iowa Ct. R. 21.26(1)(a),
(d), (e).
AFFIRMED.