In the Interest of T.D.E.

796 N.W.2d 447, 2011 Iowa App. LEXIS 144, 2011 WL 662675
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedFebruary 23, 2011
DocketNo. 11-0031
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 796 N.W.2d 447 (In the Interest of T.D.E.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In the Interest of T.D.E., 796 N.W.2d 447, 2011 Iowa App. LEXIS 144, 2011 WL 662675 (iowactapp 2011).

Opinion

POTTERFIELD, J.

This appeal requires us to determine the physical and legal custody status of the child, T.E., before the filing of the child in need of assistance petition, since the custody status governs the “goals of a child’s placement and the next step in juvenile proceedings.” In re B.L., 470 N.W.2d 343, [448]*448345 (Iowa 1991). The mother believes she had sole legal and physical custody prior to the child in need of assistance action and thus custody must be returned to her absent specific findings that transfer of custody was warranted. We conclude however that because the father acknowledged the child within a short time after his birth, the court properly placed the child with the father after the dispositional hearing pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.101 (2009) (order “permitting a child’s parent ... at the time of the filing of the petition to retain custody”). Consequently, the permanency order entered pursuant to 232.104(2)(a) (returning child to child’s home) was not in error. We therefore affirm.

I. Legal Principles.

Iowa Code section 232.101 allows the juvenile court to enter a dispositional order “permitting the child’s parent, guardian or custodian at the time of the filing of the [CINA] petition to retain custody of the child subject to terms and conditions.” (Emphasis added.)

Iowa Code section 232.102 allows the juvenile court to enter a dispositional order “transferring the legal custody of the child to ... [a] parent who does not have physical care of the child, other relative, or other suitable person.” (Emphasis added).

The mother of T.E. contends that the court was required to use section 232.102, since she enjoyed sole legal and physical custody of the child since birth under Iowa Code section 600B.40, which provides: “The mother of a child born out of wedlock whose paternity has not been acknowledged ... has sole custody of the child unless the court orders otherwise.”

Our supreme court construed section 600B.40 (previously codified at section 675.40) “as placing sole custody of a child born out of wedlock with the mother unless the father steps forward and acknowledges paternity of the child within a reasonable time.” B.L., 470 N.W.2d at 346. Where a father has acknowledged paternity within a reasonable time, the mother does not have sole custody; the unwed parents share legal custody. See In re 358 N.W.2d 311, 319 (Iowa 1984); In re L.B., 530 N.W.2d 465, 468 (Iowa Ct.App.1995).

II. Background Facts and Proceedings.

T.E. was born in October 2006. T.E.’s mother is Trista; his father is Justin. The parents have never been married to each other. At the time of T.E.’s birth, Justin was living in George, Iowa. He learned of T.E.’s birth in early December, and made arrangements to visit T.E. at Christmas at Trista’s home in Fort Dodge. Justin then moved to Fort Dodge to be near T.E. Justin provided some financial support; visited T.E. midweek frequently; and, beginning when T.E. was about ten months old, had regular overnight visits on weekends. Justin signed a paternity affidavit and his name appears on T.E.’s birth certificate. He began paying regular child support after a Child Support Recovery Unit action in 2008.

In 2008, when T.E. was about two years old, Trista was charged with child endangerment and OWI for driving while under the influence of marijuana with her brother, a minor, in the car.1 At that time the Department of Human Services (DHS) provided services to Trista and closed its [449]*449case without juvenile court involvement a few months later.

In August 2009, the DHS again became involved with Trista following allegations Trista was using marijuana and methamphetamine on a daily basis in the presence of T.E. and other minors in her household.2 T.E. was with Justin on a weekend visit at the time and the parents agreed that T.E. should stay with Justin until results from Trista’s drug screens were obtained. Trista tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine; the methamphetamine levels were very high. T.E. also tested positive for methamphetamine at a very high level.3 The DHS provided crisis intervention services and provided Trista with supervised visits with T.E.

On September 29, 2009, a petition was filed alleging T.E. was a CINA pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.2(6)(c)(2) (child has suffered harmful effects as result of failure of parent to exercise reasonable degree of care in supervising child) and 232.2(6)(n) (parent’s mental capacity or condition, or drug or alcohol abuse results in the child not receiving adequate care). T.E. had been in the physical care of Justin for about a month before the petition was filed and continued to live with Justin during the juvenile court proceedings.

On December 8, 2009, the juvenile court adjudicated T.E. a CINA and ordered “temporary custody of the child would be placed with the father under the protective supervision of DHS” until the dispositional hearing, which all parties agreed should be scheduled for a later date. The court noted Trista “was waiting to be arrested,” had a “serious history of substance abuse,” was “currently on probation for a felony-level drug charge,” and “has several serious charges filed against her at this time.” The court also observed T.E. was exposed to methamphetamine because of Trista’s actions and it was “clear that the mother will need to make drastic changes before reunification with her can occur and that therefore concurrent planning should be conducted.”

That same day, the juvenile court entered a “Notice to the District Court” that it “has now transferred physical custody of the above named child from the mother [Trista] to the father [Justin]” and requested a suspension of Justin’s child support obligation “[b]ased on this change of custody.”

Trista was arrested after the December 8, 2009 court hearing and later ordered to reside in a halfway house. Once there, Trista completed a substance abuse evaluation, engaged in job searches, attended an employment class, and began to attend outpatient treatment and provide clean drug screens. She had supervised visits with T.E. in January 2010, which went well.

In a report to the court filed February 2, 2010, DHS Social Worker Laurie Tague outlined Trista’s efforts, the updated contract of expectations developed at a January 19 family team meeting, and the DHS’s concern about Trista having a male visitor who brought drug paraphernalia. On February 2, 2010, a dispositional hearing was held at which all parties agreed T.E. continued to be a CINA and “it would be in the best interest of the child to remain in the custody of his father under the protective supervision of DHS.” In the dispositional order entered that same date, [450]*450the court adopted the recommendations in the DHS report to the court. The court denied Justin’s request that the juvenile court grant concurrent jurisdiction to the district court as premature, stating:

The Court believes that juvenile court is in a better position than district court at this time to decide the custody issue for the child.

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796 N.W.2d 447, 2011 Iowa App. LEXIS 144, 2011 WL 662675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-tde-iowactapp-2011.