Cotton v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2017 Ark. App. 479, 529 S.W.3d 264, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 555
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 27, 2017
DocketCV-17-92
StatusPublished

This text of 2017 Ark. App. 479 (Cotton v. Arkansas Department of Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cotton v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2017 Ark. App. 479, 529 S.W.3d 264, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 555 (Ark. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

BART F. VIRDEN, Judge

_|jln this no-merit appeal, the Logan County Circuit Court terminated appellant Tammy Cotton’s parental rights to her daughter, B.C., on November 28, 2016. Appellant filed a notice ’of appeal the same day. Counsel for appellant filed a motion to withdraw as counsel on appeal and a no-merit brief pursuant to Linker-Flores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004), and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 6 — 9(i) (2016), asserting that, other than the termination order itself, which is fully addressed in the brief, there were no adverse rulings to appellant and explaining why there are no nonfrivolous arguments to support an appeal. After being served by certified mail with the motion to withdraw and a copy of the no-merit brief, appellant did not file pro se points 12for reversal. We affirm the order terminating appellant’s parental rights and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

In Linker-Flores, the Arkansas Supreme Court described the procedure for withdrawing as counsel from a termination-of-parental-rights appeal:

[Appointed counsel for an indigent parent on a first appeal from an order terminating parental rights may peti■tion this court to withdraw as counsel if, after a conscientious-review of the record, counsel can find no issue of arguable merit for appeal. Counsel’s petition must be accompanied by a brief discussing any arguably meritorious issue for appeal. The indigent party must be provided with a copy of the brief and notified of her right to file points for reversal within thirty days. If this court determines, after a full examination of the record, that the appeal is frivolous, the court may grant.counsel’s motion and dismiss the appeal.

Linker-Flores, 359 Ark. at 141, 194 S.W.3d at 747-48.

Subsequently the supreme court elaborated on the appellate court’s role in reviewing a petition to withdraw in a termination-of-parental-rights appeal, _ holding that when.the trial court has taken the prior record into consideration in its decision, a “conscientious review of the record” requires the appellate court to review all pleadings and testimony in the case on the question of the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the decision to terminate and that only adverse rulings arising at the termination hearing need be addressed in the no-merit appeal from the prior orders in the case. Lewis v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 364 Ark. 243, 217 S.W.3d 788 (2005).

Termination-of-pai’ental-rights cases are reviewed de novo. Hune v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2010 Ark. App. 543, 2010 WL 2612681. Grounds for termination of parental rights must be proved by clear and convincing evidence, which is that degree of proof that will produce in the finder of fact a firm conviction of the allegation sought to be established. Id. The appellate inquiry is whether the trial court’s finding that the disputed fact was proved by | ..¡clear and convincing evidence is clearly erroneous. J.T. v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 329 Ark. 243, 947 S.W.2d 761 (1997).

B.C. (12/24/05) was taken into protective custody by the Arkansas' Department of Human Services (Department) on September 10, 2015, due to concerns about the health and safety of her and her siblings. 1 The affidavit of family service worker Jennifer Jackson sets forth that Tammy had overdosed on methamphetamine and ben-.zodiazepine and had to be airlifted to Mercy Hospital. After that Tammy was admitted to Valley Behavioral Hospital due to her attempts to commit suicide^ and the children were left without a- legal caregiver.

A petition for emergency custody and dependency-neglect was filed and granted on September 14, 2015. The trial court ■found that there was probable cause to believe that B.C. and her siblings were dependent-neglected, and it would be contrary to their welfare to return them to their parent. A probable-cause order was entered on September 16, 2015, . in which the court found that the family had a history with the Department. In the prior cases, the. children had been returned to Tammy following her completion of counseling and parenting classes and after having received assistance with transportation and housing. Tammy stipulated to1 probable cause.

An adjudication order finding B.C. dependent-neglected was filed on Novémber 4, 2015, and the goal of the case was reunification with a concurrent goal of adoption. Tammy |4was ordered to submit to random drug screens, watch the video “The Clock is Ticking”, complete parenting classes, submit to psychological and drug- and-alcohol evaluations and follow any recommendations, obtain stable housing and employment, attend counseling, submit to homemaker services, cooperate with the Department, and comply with the case plan.

; Following a hearing, the trial' court changed the goal of the case to adoption in a review order entered on February'22, 2016. The trial court found that the Department had made reasonable efforts to provide services but that Tammy had failed to obtain housing, failed to maintain transportation, failed to comply with drug- and-alcohol .treatment, failed to exercise visitation consistently, and she tested positive for drugs when she did submit to drug screening.

Termination of parental rights is a two-step process requiring a determination that the parent is unfit and that termination is' in the best interest of the child. Houseman v. Ark. Dept of Human Servs., 2016 Ark. App. 227, 491 S.W.3d 163. The first step requires proof of one or more statutory grounds for termination; the second step, the best-interest analysis, includes consideration of the likelihood that the juvenile will be adopted and of the potential harm caused by returning custody of the child to the parent. Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(A)(b)(3)(B)(Repl. 2015); Houseman, supra. Proof of only one statutory ground is sufficient to terminate parental rights. Gossett v. Ark. Dept of Human Servs., 2010 Ark. App. 240, 374 S.W.3d 205. A trial court is required to consider only potential harm to a child’s health and safety that might come from continued contact with the parents; there is no requirement to find that actual harm would result or identify the potential harm. Hamman 5v. Ark. Dept of Human Servs., 2014 Ark. App. 295, at 11, 435 S.W.3d 495, 502. The potential-harm analysis is to be conducted in broad terms. Id.

The Department filed a petition for termination of parental rights on May 18, 2016, and based the petition for termination on the grounds set forth in Arkansas Code Annotated . section 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(i)(aJ — the child had been adjudicated to be dependent-neglected and had continued to be out of the parent’s custody for twelve months and, despite a meaningful.

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Related

Lewis v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
217 S.W.3d 788 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2005)
Linker-Flores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
194 S.W.3d 739 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
J.T. v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
947 S.W.2d 761 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1997)
Hamman v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
2014 Ark. App. 295 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2014)
Houseman v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
2016 Ark. App. 227 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2016)
Gossett v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
374 S.W.3d 205 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
2017 Ark. App. 479, 529 S.W.3d 264, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cotton-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2017.