IN THE INTEREST OF A.H., Minor Child, S.L., Mother, Appellant.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 7-310 / 07-0582
Filed May 23, 2007
IN THE INTEREST OF A.H.,
Minor Child,
S.L., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Stephen C.
Clarke, Judge.
A mother appeals from the order terminating her parental rights to her
daughter. AFFIRMED.
Michael Bandy of the Bandy Law Office, Waterloo, for appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, and Kathleen Hahn,
Assistant County Attorney, for appellee state.
Timothy Baldwin, Assistant Juvenile Public Defender, Waterloo, guardian
ad litem for the minor child.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Vogel and Miller, JJ.
2
VOGEL, J.
S.L. appeals from a district court order, terminating her parental rights to
her daughter, A.H., who was born in July of 2001. 1 She simply asserts, “the
district court erred in finding that placement of the child in [her home] would not
be in the best interests of the child.” As the mother has not appealed arguing the
insufficiency of proof supporting termination under the sections relied on by the
district court, Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(f) and (l) (2007), we affirm. See
Iowa R. App. P. 6.14(1)(c) (“Failure in the brief to state, to argue or to cite
authority in support of an issue may be deemed waiver of that issue.”);
Hollingsworth v. Schminkey, 553 N.W.2d 591, 596 (Iowa 1996) (“When a party,
in an appellate brief, fails to state, argue, or cite to authority in support of an
issue, the issue may be deemed waived.”).
Moreover, since September of 2005, A.H. has been in the care of her
paternal grandparents. S.L. has a long-standing, substantial, and unaddressed
drug problem, which has had a direct impact on her child. The State made more
than reasonable efforts in an effort to reunify mother and daughter; however, S.L.
squandered every opportunity given her. Her behaviors are clearly inconsistent
with the best interests of her daughter. Upon our de novo review of the record, In
re R.F., 471 N.W.2d 821, 824 (Iowa 1991), we find termination of S.L.’s parental
rights, as well as placement out of her home, is decidedly in A.H.’s best interests.
Accordingly, we affirm the termination of S.L.’s parental rights to A.H.
AFFIRMED.
1
The father consented to the termination of his parental rights.
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