Edwards v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

379 S.W.3d 609, 2010 Ark. App. 739, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 772
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 3, 2010
DocketNo. CA 10-556
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 379 S.W.3d 609 (Edwards 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
Edwards v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 379 S.W.3d 609, 2010 Ark. App. 739, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 772 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge.

_jjAppellant, Kathryn Edwards, appeals from the termination of her parental rights to her daughter, EE (DOB August 29, 2006).1 She contends that the trial court erred in terminating her rights because there was insufficient evidence that termination was in the child’s best interests, and there was insufficient evidence that appel-lee, Arkansas Department of Human Services, made a meaningful effort to assist her in reunification. We affirm.

Standard of Review

We review termination of parental rights cases de novo. Grant v. Arkansas Dep’t of Human Servs., 2010 Ark. App. 636, 378 S.W.3d 227. The grounds for termination of 12parental rights must be proven by clear and convincing evidence. Id. When the burden of proving a disputed fact is by clear and convincing evidence, the question on appeal is whether the circuit court’s finding that the disputed fact was proven by clear and convincing evidence is clearly erroneous, giving due regard to the opportunity of the circuit court to judge the credibility of the witnesses. Id. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Id. A heavy burden is placed on the party seeking termination. Id. This is because termination of parental rights is an extreme remedy in derogation of the natural rights of the parents. Id. Nevertheless, parental rights will not be enforced to the detriment or destruction of the health and well-being of the child. Id. Thus, parental rights must give way to the best interest of the child when the natural parents seriously fail to provide reasonable care for their minor children. Id.

Testimony from termination hearing

Lacey Maybee, a DHS family-service worker, testified that EE was brought into DHS care in June 2008 because appellant was intoxicated and unable to care for the child; that the services offered to appellant were medical services, Schmieding evaluation, drug and alcohol assessment, counseling, psychological evaluation, inpatient treatment, transportation, multiple staffings, and parenting classes. She testified that appellant completed her drug and alcohol assessment, which recommended inpatient treatment; that appellant completed inpatient counseling, with a release date of February 3, 2009; that attending counseling and AA | .¡meetings were a required part of the case plan; that unsupervised and overnight visits were allowed after February 2009 but were discontinued when DHS received an anonymous tip that appellant was drinking. Maybee also stated that EE was being returned from these visits “unclean, sick.”

Maybee testified that, in the visits she had supervised, appellant did not display a grasp of parenting skills. For example, appellant allowed EE, a three-year-old child, to have adult-sized scissors and, when cautioned by Maybee, appellant told her that EE had been using those scissors all of her life and that she knew how to use them. When appellant tried to take the scissors away, EE became very upset and swung them wildly above her head.

Maybee further explained that appellant did not discipline EE appropriately during visitation and that she often displayed indifference to EE during visitations, answering phone calls, texting, and painting her nails. Maybee expressed her opinion that proper parenting had been a concern for DHS from the time EE was taken into custody. She said that appellant had been given parenting instructions, but that her parenting skills had not improved, explaining that “her parenting has become so negligent that it’s dangerous at this point,” e.g., “not paying attention to her child, allowing her to climb on chairs and tables, playing with scissors.” She also explained that appellant had not provided any verifiable proof of employment, and she expressed concerns about the legitimacy of the sign-in sheets that appellant provided from the AA meetings, which she was supposed to attend as part of her case plan.

14Maybee testified that appellant failed to provide proof of counseling attendance until after the permanency-planning hearing in August 2009. She said that appellant had enrolled in a beauty college, which she started in October of last year, but that she did not graduate. However, May-bee acknowledged that appellant had appropriate housing and had lived in the same apartment complex for the duration of the case.

Maybee explained that appellant had earlier been offered similar services in Louisiana; a letter from the Louisiana department expressed concerns about appellant leaving EE with the babysitter for extended periods of time, alcohol use, a positive test for marijuana, and an unstable residence, all of which was happening in October 2007 — shortly before EE came into ADHS care. Another document from Louisiana that was part of appellant’s case file indicated that appellant was not cooperative with the services offered to her.

Maybee acknowledged that when it was discovered that appellant had wine bottles in her apartment during the summer of 2009 and was told that it was not a good idea for a recovering alcoholic to have wine in her house, she removed the bottles and also denied having drunk from them. Maybee explained that during a visit to Maybee’s office after the discovery of the wine bottles, appellant said that she might have wine when she goes out to eat. May-bee told her she could not have alcohol at all.

Maybee acknowledged that appellant had completed the required parenting classes and that no additional classes were ordered or provided. She explained, however, that social-service^ aides were present during visitations and that they were there to intervene and show correct parenting skills.

Upon questioning by the attorney ad litem, Maybee stated that appellant saw Samaritan House counselor Nancy Wells until October 2009; when Maybee became aware in December 2009 that appellant was not attending counseling, she obtained a referral for appellant to see Kathleen Housley. Although Maybee expressed concerns about whether appellant actually attended substance-abuse counseling at Samaritan House, as she claimed, Maybee acknowledged that appellant was given three random alcohol tests, which were all negative.

Maybee said that she was constantly talking to appellant about what she needed to do concerning the case-plan goals, and that the SSAs who supervised appellant’s visitation, in effect, provided her with one-on-one parenting coaching during the visits. She further explained that appellant did not seem to take the parenting advice offered to her very seriously; that her response to EE throwing things, yelling, hitting, and biting her mother would be comments such as “you’re so cute,” rather than redirecting her and explaining why the behavior was not appropriate. She said that appellant would tell EE, “you’re so sexy,” and put makeup on her and paint her skin with fingernail polish; that one time she undressed EE and had her slip into a cut-off pants leg, presumably to serve as a skirt; that it was too tight and EE expressed discomfort and appellant just told her she would get used to it.

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Related

Garlington v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.
542 S.W.3d 917 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2018)
Anderson v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
385 S.W.3d 367 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 S.W.3d 609, 2010 Ark. App. 739, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 772, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/edwards-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2010.