Hernandez v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2016 Ark. App. 250, 492 S.W.3d 119, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 267
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMay 4, 2016
DocketCV-15-1069
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2016 Ark. App. 250 (Hernandez 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
Hernandez v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2016 Ark. App. 250, 492 S.W.3d 119, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 267 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Judge

| TAppellant Christine Hernandez appeals the October 2015 order of the Washington County Circuit Court terminating her parental rights to her children S.B.l (DOB 2-15-09) and S.B.2 (DOB 5-15-11). 1 On appeal, Christine argues that there is in-. sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s decision to terminate her parental rights. We affirm.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a petition for dependency-neglect on July 11, 2014, alleging that S.B.1 and S.B.2 were at a substantial risk of serious harm as the result of abuse, neglect, and parental unfitness. An affidavit of Antwain Harris that accompanied the petition stated that DHS had opened a protective-services case on the family in January 2014 after it was discovered that S.B.1 had cuts, bruises, and welts on her body. Harris stated that Christine and" her husband, Kevin Hernandez (the children’s stepfather), had ^agreed to a protection plan, which included not allowing other adults to live in their home and not. leavirig the children with inappropriate caregivers. However, according to Harris, since the protective plan had been implemented, four other adults had been living in the home, and two of them slept in the same room as S.B.l and S.B.2; the children were not being fed, bathed, or clothed; neighbors were feeding the children; Christine did not pick up S.B.l from school when she was very sick; Christine did not take S.B.1 to school when she was well; the children were kept locked in their room for extended periods; Kevin punished the children “as if they were teenagers” — “hit[ting] the children in their hands extremely hard and ground[ing] them”; Christine allowed a mentally disabled child to watch S.B.1 and S.B.2; and there were allegations that S.B.1 had been sexually abused.

On- July 24, 2014, DHS filed a petition for emergency custody and dependency-neglect. In a second affidavit of Harris, he added that Christine was in violation of the protective plan because inappropriate adults were still living in the Hernandez home and were the sole child-care providers for the children. The trial court entered an ex parte order for emergency custody that day.

An adjudication order was entered in September 2014. The parties stipulated that the children were dependent-neglected. The concurrent goals were reunification of the family and adoption. Services were offered to Christine. She was ordered to visit the children; contact her caseworker weekly; have a psychological evaluation; participate in individual counseling; not use illegal drugs; submit to a drug-and-alcohol assessment; complete parenting classes; obtain and maintain clean; safe, and stable housing; and demonstrate .the ability to protect the children and keep them safe from harm.

| sIn an amended review-hearing order filed in January 2015, the trial court found that the children remained- in need of services and that returning them to Christine was not in their best interest, Christine was noted to be compliant with most of the case plan but had nqt demonstrated the ability to protect the children.

After a permanency-planning' hearing conducted in May 2015, Christine was deemed to be, , compliant with the case plan and . the trial court’s orders; however, the court found that she had not addressed the issue that caused removal and that no substantial measurable progress had been made. The goal was set as adoption, and the trial court authorized DHS to file a petition for termination of parental rights.

DHS filed a petition' to terminate parental rights, and at the September 2015 termination hearing Christine’s counselor testified that Christine admitted she had made a mistake in allowing unsafe people to live with and care for her children. Christine’s treatment included working on setting boundaries and learning to protect the children from people with whom she was not familiar. Christine denied allegations that Kevin had abused S.B.1 and S.B.2.

The psychological evaluations of Christine and Kevin were admitted at the hearing. Christine’s evaluation revealed that she had a dependent-personality disorder, possibly due to having been sexually abused as a child by her father, her brother, her stepbrother, and her godfather; she had problems with immaturity, denial, and poor judgment; and she “seems to be extremely passive and to tolerate inappropriate friendships and behaviors from others.” Kevin’s psychological evaluation revealed that he had a personality disorder with narcissistic and antisocial traits; he “seems to be hostile, distrusting, and grandiose”; he demonstrated low |4levels of warmth' and sympathy; and he “appears to view himself as a protector and to deny or minimize his problems with aggression and recklessness.” A case report reflects .that Kevin was arrested in September 2014 for aggravated assault after he pointed á gun at a man in a parking lot.

The children’s therapist, Melissa Bed-ford, testified that Kevin admitted spanking the children and stated that he used fear to parent them. She testified that the fear-based parenting method was inappropriate because of the children’s posttrau-matic-stress disorder. 2 She also said that Kevin resisted her efforts to teach him alternative parenting methods. The therapist stated that S.B.1 feared Kevin and that she looked fearful once when Christine and Kevin picked her up for a visit.

Andrea Emerson, DHS family-service worker, testified that during visitation Christine did not interact much with her daughters. She “pushes the kids to go to Kevin and doesn’t interact with them.' She does tend to just sit there, stare at the wall or look at her phone.” During one visit, ’ Christine cut S.B.2’s bangs at the hairline. Emerson testified that she did not believe that Christine had remedied the conditions that caused the removal of the children despite the services provided. Emerson further stated that S.B.1 and S.B.2 were doing well in foster care, that the foster parent expressed an interest in adopting them, and that they were adoptable.

-The children’s foster mother, “Diana,” testified that the children’s behavioral problems had improved and that, they are doing very well. However, according to Diana, after visits with |sChristine and Kevin, S.B.l was afraid; she would not go to the bathroom alone, and she wanted the door to her bedroom open and the light left on at night. Diana also testified that after one visit, S.B.2 was found hiding under a DHS desk, extremely upset, refusing to come out, and demanding to go home with Christine. Diana stated that S.B.2 cried the entire ride home. Diana later learned from S.B.2 that Christine had pulled S.B.2’s tooth and told her that the tooth fairy would not be able to find her at Diana’s house,

Christine testified that she would not allow others who were not safe to live with or. care for her children. However, she also admitted that she told a DHS worker that her day-care plan, if the children were returned to her, was to have friends of hers, whose last names she did not know, babysit. Christine also told a DHS worker .that another friend (with an unknown last name), was going to be moving in with her and Kevin. Christine added that her children were not afraid of Kevin and that he was not mean to them.

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Bluebook (online)
2016 Ark. App. 250, 492 S.W.3d 119, 2016 Ark. App. LEXIS 267, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2016.