IN THE INTEREST OF K.S., Minor Child, F.R., Mother, Appellant.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 9-872 / 09-1355
Filed November 12, 2009
IN THE INTEREST OF K.S.,
Minor Child,
F.R., Mother,
Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary Howes, Judge.
A mother appeals from the order terminating her parental rights.
AFFIRMED.
Jack E. Dusthimer, Davenport, for appellant mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, Michael J. Walton, County Attorney, and Gerda Lane,
Assistant County Attorney, for appellee State.
Barbara Wallace, Davenport, for minor child.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Danilson, JJ.
2
DANILSON, J.
A mother appeals the district court order terminating her parental rights to
thirteen-year-old K.S. We affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
K.S. and her younger sister, L.S.-R., were removed the mother’s care on
February 11, 2008.1 The removal was necessitated by the mother’s inability to
safely care for the children as a result of her mental illness and excessive use of
alcohol. K.S. was adjudicated a child in need of assistance on May 7, 2008,
pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.2(6)(c)(1) and (2). Since January 2008, the
mother has had at least several episodes involving alcohol in which she became
extremely violent and was unable to provide appropriate care and supervision for
K.S.
The mother’s mental health problems include hallucinations, hearing
voices, paranoia, and confusion as to her identity and her children’s identities. In
February 2008, the mother was involuntarily committed at the request of her
sister and brother-in-law. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia and is currently
on medication that helps control her severe mental health problems.
The mother has been arrested several times since K.S.’s removal:
In
February 2008, she faced assault charges for an assault on her sister, and in
August 2008, she faced prostitution charges when she was trying to get money
to buy alcohol. As the mother admitted, “I needed something to numb it, and I
had only a certain amount of money on me, and I needed to drink for the next
couple of days.” Thereafter, she accepted a recommendation by the Center for
1
This court affirmed the termination of the mother’s parental rights with regard to L.S.-R.
in In re L.S.-R., No. 09-0208 (Iowa Ct. App. April 22, 2009).
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Alcohol and Drug Services, Inc. that she enter the Scott County Jail Based
Treatment Program. The mother successfully completed the program and was
released in late December 2008.
The mother entered a half-way house in
January 2009, but relapsed within a few weeks.
In April 2009, the mother
relapsed again and was discharged from the program. She was allowed back
into the program with numerous restrictions, but relapsed again in May 2009, and
was hospitalized for “suicidal ideations.”
The termination hearing was held in two parts on June 4, 2009, and
August 6, 2009. Following the first part of the hearing on June 4, 2009, the
mother went to Chicago for several days.
She was intoxicated when she
returned from Chicago and was placed in a detox program. Throughout June
2009, the mother cancelled several visits with K.S., and failed to complete a
recommended twenty-one-day inpatient treatment program. There is also
evidence in the record that the mother was hospitalized in June 2009 for panic or
anxiety attacks.
On August 25, 2009, the court entered an order terminating the mother’s
parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.116(1)(b), (f), (g), and (i)
(2007).2 She now appeals.
II. Scope and Standard of Review.
We review termination of parental rights de novo. In re Z.H., 740 N.W.2d
648, 650-51 (Iowa Ct. App. 2007). Grounds for termination must be proved by
2
K.S.’s father was not a party to these proceedings. The court terminated any parentchild relationship between K.S. and the father.
4
clear and convincing evidence. In re J.E., 723 N.W.2d 793, 798 (Iowa 2006).
Our primary concern is the best interests of the child. Id.
III. Merits.
The mother does not dispute the State proved the grounds for termination
by clear and convincing evidence.
Rather, she requests additional time to
improve her parenting skills and resume care of the child.
The mother’s mental health and substance abuse issues have existed
since she was a teenager. She is now thirty-nine years old. The record indicates
the mother is now being treated by a psychiatrist and regularly takes medication
for her mental health problems. However, the mother has not consistently and
sufficiently accessed services offered to her, nor has she demonstrated
significant improvement over nearly eighteen months of services. As the court
stated:
She still has a long way to go and her recent period of sobriety was
obviously caused in part by her incarceration. She was unable to
successfully complete or maintain sobriety on her own. [The
mother] has no stable living arrangement and no employment. She
has not yet sustained a period of mental health or substance abuse
free living that would justify placing [K.S.] in her care at this time.
[K.S.] is 13 years old and thus has a bond with her mother
that her younger sister, who was removed as an infant, did not
have time to develop. She loves her mother and cares about her
but does not want to be in her custody. Unfortunately, she knows
firsthand what disruption [her mother’s] substance and abuse and
mental health issues can cause in family life. [The mother]
continues to have substance abuse relapses. She reports she no
longer hears voices and understands the importance of aftercare
and her medication, which is commendable. However, her long
history of mental illness, violent history of substance abuse and
criminal charges mean she has a long way to go still before
providing a safe environment for [K.S.].
5
There continue to be major concerns about the mother’s history of alcohol
abuse, severe mental health issues, accountability, relapse, treatment failures,
and lack of responsibility for the trauma she has caused to K.S. The mother has
a troubling history of exposing K.S. to inappropriate persons, alcohol, violence,
and criminal activity.
As the court noted, the mother “understates and
underestimates the pain and disruption she has caused [K.S.] by her problems.”
K.S. has lived in family foster care since February 2008. K.S.’s younger sister,
L.S.-R., also lives in the same foster home, and the sisters share a strong bond.
The mother’s parental rights to L.S.-R. were terminated earlier this year. Despite
facing the termination of her parental rights of yet a second child, and after the
termination hearing had begun but not concluded, the mother was again
intoxicated and failed an inpatient treatment program.
Although the mother requests additional time to repair the deficiencies in
her parenting, K.S. should not be forced to endlessly await the maturity of her
mother. See In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 494 (Iowa 2000). Past performance of
a parent may be indicative of the quality of future care the parent is capable of
providing. In re C.W., 554 N.W.2d 279, 283 (Iowa Ct. App. 1996). We are
convinced K.S.’s interests are best served by terminating the mother’s parental
rights and continuing K.S.’s placement in a safe and stable home. The record
clearly supports the finding that the mother is unable to provide a safe
environment for K.S., and returning K.S. to her home is not an option. There is
no reason to further delay K.S. the permanency she needs and deserves.
6
The mother also raises several arguments with regard to the court’s
admission of hearsay evidence. We have reviewed these claims and find them
to be without merit.
Looking at long-range and immediate interests, we conclude termination is
in the best interests of the child. See In re C.K., 558 N.W.2d 170, 172 (Iowa
1997).
AFFIRMED.
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