IN THE INTEREST OF L.G., Minor Child, D.G., Mother, Appellant.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 9-1026 / 09-1682
Filed December 30, 2009
IN THE INTEREST OF L.G.,
Minor Child,
D.G., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, James McGlynn,
Associate Juvenile Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child.
AFFIRMED.
Derek Johnson of Derek Johnson Law Office, Fort Dodge, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, Timothy Schott, County Attorney, and Jennifer Bonzer,
Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Marcy Lundberg, Fort Dodge, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor
child.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., Eisenhauer and Potterfield, JJ.
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EISENHAUER, J.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child. She
does not dispute the State proved the grounds for termination by clear and
convincing evidence. Instead, she contends the State failed to make reasonable
efforts to reunite her with the child. She also contends termination is not in the
child’s best interest. Our review is de novo. In re T.P., 757 N.W.2d 267, 269
(Iowa Ct. App. 2008).
The child, born in November 2006, was adjudicated in need of assistance
in December 2008 following a physical altercation between her parents, during
which the father threatened to kill the mother. The parents have since separated.
However, the mother is alcohol dependent, engaging in what the juvenile court
categorized as a “high level of chronic alcohol abuse.” Two weeks before the
termination hearing, the mother suffered alcohol poisoning after drinking “a 24
pack of beer and most of two bottles of liquor over a three-hour period.”
Additionally, the mother does not have a job or a home and has lived with various
friends and relatives for short periods of time.
The mother contends the State failed to make reasonable efforts to reunite
her with the child as required by Iowa Code section 232.102(7) (2009). She
argues the House of Mercy program could have allowed her to sufficiently
address her problems with substance abuse.
However, the program was
discussed with the mother five or six months before the termination hearing and
the mother refused to participate. We conclude the State has met its burden of
making reasonable efforts.
3
The mother also contends termination is not in the child’s best interest.
She claims she is living with the maternal grandmother, who also had custody of
the child, and that termination will cause confusion for the child with the ongoing
contact. However, the mother had been living with the maternal grandmother for
only one week at the time of the termination hearing and the maternal
grandmother testified it was not an option for her daughter to live there long-term.
Termination is in the child’s best interest. The mother has been given the
time allowed by statute to demonstrate she is able to care for her child. She was
unable to show improvement. While the law requires a “full measure of patience
with troubled parents who attempt to remedy a lack of parenting skills,” this
patience has been built into the statutory scheme of chapter 232. In re C.B., 611
N.W.2d 489, 494 (Iowa 2000). Children should not be forced to endlessly await
the maturity of a natural parent. Id. At some point, the rights and needs of the
child rise above the rights and needs of the parent. In re J.L.W., 570 N.W.2d
778, 781 (Iowa Ct. App. 1997). The child needs and deserves permanency.
Accordingly, we affirm.
AFFIRMED.
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