IN THE INTEREST OF D.M.L., Minor Child, A.M.L., Mother, Appellant.
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 6-801 / 06-1304
Filed October 11, 2006
IN THE INTEREST OF D.M.L.,
Minor Child,
A.M.L., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Montgomery County, Mark J.
Eveloff, District Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights pursuant to Iowa
Code section 232.116(1)(e) (2005). AFFIRMED.
C. Kenneth Whitacre of Swenson & Whitacre, P.C., Glenwood, for
appellant.
Charles Richards of Richards Law Office, Red Oak, for appellee father.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, and Bruce Swanson, County Attorney for appellee State.
Josiah Wearin of Stamets & Wearin, P.C., Red Oak, for minor child.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Vogel and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
2
VAITHESWARAN, J.
Alisa appeals the termination of her parental rights to Domenic, born in
2002. She contends she “was not given adequate time to address the problems
that led to the filing of the termination petition.” She also contends “the State has
failed to show that [she] has not attempted to assume the parental role.”
Reviewing the record de novo, we disagree on both counts.
The State sought to terminate Alisa’s parental rights pursuant to a single
statutory ground: the absence of significant and meaningful contact between
mother and child.
Iowa Code § 232.116(1)(e) (2005).
“Significant and
meaningful contact” includes “the affirmative assumption by the parents of the
duties encompassed by the role of being a parent.” Id. Among other things, the
parent must show “a genuine effort to complete the responsibilities prescribed in
the case permanency plan.” Id.
Domenic was removed from Alisa’s care in May 2004 after drugs were
discovered in her home. Although initial tests did not reveal the presence of
illegal drugs in Alisa’s system, later tests showed signs of methamphetamine
use. The Department of Human Services prepared a case permanency plan that
required Alisa to comply with recommended substance-abuse treatment. She
did not do so.
In December 2004, a Department worker stated:
There has been little progress with helping Domenic’s parents to
understand why they cannot use drugs and have their son in their
home. [Alisa] . . . appear[s] to be in complete denial of how [she
has] influenced [her] son’s life with [her] drug use.
3
In January 2005, Alisa was admitted to an intensive outpatient substance
abuse treatment program. She was discharged two months later “due to her
non-compliance.”
In October 2005, a Department employee stated, “[Alisa] continues to
minimize her drug use.” She noted that Alisa “failed both outpatient and inpatient
treatment.”
The employee concluded that the Department had “exhausted
reasonable efforts to reunite” Alisa with her son.
In May 2006, less than one month before the termination of parental rights
hearing, Alisa’s urine tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine. By
this time, two years had elapsed since Domenic’s removal from her care and she
had yet to address the drug dependency issue that precipitated the removal.
It is true that Alisa maintained contact with Domenic and shared a close
bond with him.
Until shortly before the termination hearing, she regularly
participated in supervised visitation with her son and interacted well with him.
She also spoke to him on the phone up to several times per week. However,
Alisa acknowledged that reunification could not occur unless she abstained from
illegal drug use. As she did not do so, she was not in a position to assume “the
duties encompassed by the role of being a parent.” Iowa Code § 232.116(1)(e).
We affirm the termination of Alisa’s parental rights to Domenic.
AFFIRMED.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
