Grosso v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2017 Ark. App. 305, 521 S.W.3d 519, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 314
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 10, 2017
DocketCV-17-20
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2017 Ark. App. 305 (Grosso 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
Grosso v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2017 Ark. App. 305, 521 S.W.3d 519, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 314 (Ark. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

MIKE MURPHY, Judge

| Appellant Ronald Del Grosso appeals the Pope County Circuit Court order terminating his parental rights to his minor child, R.D. He argues that sufficient evidence did not support the circuit court’s order terminating his parental rights. 1 We affirm.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) exercised emergency control over then-nine-year-old R.D. on July 23, 2015, upon notice that Del Grosso’s live-in girlfriend, Jamie Ray, may have physically abused R.D. The affidavit further explained that Ray’s minor son also lived in the home; the home was infested with ants and fleas; Ray stated several times she was not going to supervise R.D.; it was indicated Ray had brain cancer and stayed in bed most of the time; and she tested positive for methamphetamine Land amphetamine. DHS exercised a 72-hour hold based on Del Grosso’s refusal to submit to a drug screen and his refusal to ensure that R.D. was supervised and protected from Ray.

A little over a month later, R.D. was adjudicated dependent-neglected based on the finding that R.D. was at a risk of harm due to neglect because of Del Grosso’s failure to appropriately supervise R.D. The case progressed through three review hearings. The resulting orders concluded that DHS made reasonable efforts to provide services for Del Grosso, but the resulting orders never specifically ruled on Del Grosso’s compliance in the case. The first review order added that Del Grosso would be required to complete outpatient drug treatment. The second review order directed DHS to assist Ray in finding medical coverage for her health issues. The final review order required Del Gros-so to attend counseling and ordered him to live separately from Ray.

DHS filed its petition to terminate Del Grosso’s parental rights on August 17, 2016, alleging the grounds of failure to remedy and subsequent factors. The goal of the case was changed to adoption, and the hearing was held September 19, 2016.

At the hearing, Heather Moudy, the DHS caseworker, testified that her main concern was the housing and supervision situation because Ray still lived in the home. Moudy explained that she had tried to communicate with Ray, but she had been hostile and aggressive. Moudy also testified that she had gone to the home on multiple occasions to administer a random drug test on Del Grosso, but throughout the case she was able to find him at home only a couple of times. She testified that he had completed parenting classes but that he had not completed drug counseling as ordered because he started the program late and the funding had run out.

|aDeI Grosso testified that he still resided with Ray due to a money situation because “[he has] nowhere to put her” and “[doesn’t] know what to do with her.” He explained that just that day he found a place to keep her temporarily with a friend of his. He conceded that there had been some discussion at stuffings or at court to implement an alternative plan to perhaps have someone else in the home to make sure that R.D. was not having any unsupervised contact with Ray. But Del Grosso explained that no suggestions were made about what needed to be done to implement that and that he did not have any relatives in the area to assist. He also testified that Ray’s minor son had been removed from the home as well and that Ray refused to work her case plan. 2 Lastly, he testified that Ray had not applied for social security disability and that she was not receiving Medicaid. He admitted not having done anything to get Ray on any kind of assisted living because he had been so busy working.

The circuit court terminated Del Gros-so’s parental rights, finding that doing so was in R.D.’s best interest. In its written order, the court specifically found that

beginning at the hearing on April 4, 2016, the Court ordered the father to live separate and apart from Jamie Ray. The father has not complied with this order and continues to reside with Ms. Ray. The CASA report which was admitted into evidence notes that Mr. Del Grosso has stated repeatedly over the past year that he will not remove Ms. Ray from his home and that the only times he has acknowledged the need for removing Ms. Ray, he has followed that with the qualifier “for now.”

The circuit court acknowledged that Del Grosso had complied with most of the court’s orders but that this case had been open for fourteen months and Del Grosso had made little, if any, effort to separate himself and his child from Ray. The court concluded that the lack |4of progress for over a year and Del Grosso’s use of the phrase “for now” when acknowledging the need indicated that he had no real intention of separating from Ray.

-We review termination-of-parental-rights cases de novo. Lively v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2015 Ark. App. 131, at 4-5, 456 S.W.3d 383, 386. It is DHS’s burden to prove by clear and coh-vincing evidence that it is in a child’s best interest to terminate, parental rights as well as the existence of at least one statutory ground for termination. Id. On appeal, the inquiry is whether the circuit court’s finding that the disputed fact was proved by clear and convincing evidence is clearly erroneous. Id. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, the appellate court, on the entire evidence, is left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Id. We give a high degree of deference to the circuit court, as it is in a far superior position to observe the parties before it and judge the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

The termination-of-parental-rights analysis is twofold; it requires the circuit court to find that the parent is unfit and that termination is in the best interest of the child. The first step requires proof of one or more of the nine enumerated statutory grounds for termination. Ark. Code Ann. § 9—27—341(b)(3)(B) (Repl. 2015). The best-interest determination must consider the likelihood that the children will be adopted and the potential harm caused by returning custody of the children to the parent. Ark. Code Ann. § 9—27—341(b)(3)(A). The court, however, does not have to determine that every factor considered be established by clear and convincing evidence. Spencer v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2013 Ark. App. 96, at 5-6, 426 S.W.3d 494, 498. Instead, after considering all the factors, the evidence must be clear and convincing that the termination is in the best interest of the child. Id.

Inin the appeal, Del Grosso challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the termination, arguing that there was no evidence that DHS offered appropriate family services. He does not challenge the best-interest finding or the child’s adoptability and therefore waives those issues on appeal.

The first ground relied on by the circuit court was the failure-to-remedy ground in Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(i)(6), which provides

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Bluebook (online)
2017 Ark. App. 305, 521 S.W.3d 519, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/grosso-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2017.