Jones v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2017 Ark. App. 125, 515 S.W.3d 151, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 121
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 1, 2017
DocketCV-16-921
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 2017 Ark. App. 125 (Jones 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
Jones v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2017 Ark. App. 125, 515 S.W.3d 151, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 121 (Ark. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Judge

| Mamie Jones appeals the April 7, 2016 order of the Lonoke County Circuit Court terminating her parental rights to her son, B.M. (born September 12, 2011). On appeal, Jones argues that the circuit court’s termination order is clearly erroneous. 1 We affirm.

On February 7, 2014, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a petition for ex parte emergency custody and dependency-neglect, alleging that Jones’s older son, A.J., who was seventeen years old at the time, was dependent-neglected as a result of “neglect, parental unfitness and no legal caretaker.” The affidavit attached to the petition alleged that on February 5, 2014, the circuit court ordered DHS to take A.J. into custody because Jones had failed to appear for her court appearance that day, leaving A.J. without an appropriate caretaker or guardian. An emergency order was entered on February 7, 2014.

|2On February 20, 2014, DHS filed another petition for ex parte emergency custody, alleging Jones’s “neglect, parental unfitness, environmental neglect, and drug use” with respect to B.M., who was then two and half years old. The affidavit attached to this petition alleged that after the circuit court removed A.J. from Jones’s custody, it ordered DHS to conduct a safety assessment on B.M. On February 18, 2014, a DHS caseworker visited Jones’s residence, but Jones and B.M. were not home. Several men were there loading a U-Haul. The caseworker entered the home and observed drug needles and pipes on the floor and the couch. The caseworker called Jones and requested that she return home with B.M., but Jones refused and hung up. When the caseworker gained custody of B.M. the following day, she observed that he was in “filthy” pajamas and had a “bad odor.” Jones tested positive for methamphetamine. An emergency order was entered on February 20, 2014.

At a March 18, 2014 adjudication hearing, Jones stipulated that B.M. and A.J. were dependent-neglected “based on inadequate supervision due to [her] drug use.” Jones was ordered to participate in and complete parenting classes, individual and family counseling, random drug screens, residential drug treatment, a drug-and-alcohol assessment, and a forensic-psychological evaluation; obtain and maintain stable employment and housing; comply with the case plan; cooperate and maintain contact with DHS; attend visitations; demonstrate improved parenting; and remain drug free.

Review hearings were held on April 29 and August 26, 2014. The review orders from those hearings provided that return of the children to the custody of Jones was contrary to their welfare, that Jones was to comply with the case plan, that the goal of the case was reunification, and that DHS had made reasonable efforts to provide services to achieve the hgoal. One of the review orders provided that Jones “is ... doing inpatient substance[-]abuse treatment and is doing well.... Mom is compliant at this time.” The review order provided that due to Jones’s progress, she was given temporary custody of B.M. while she resided at the substance-abuse facility. At that time, Jones was also permitted a two-hour weekly visit with A.J. The order further provided that A.J. was allowed weekend visits with his aunt, Tammy Humble.

On January 2, 2015, DHS filed a motion for ex parte emergency change of custody, alleging that Jones had violated the terms of her inpatient substance-abuse-treatment program and put B.M. in imminent danger. The affidavit attached to the motion stated that on December 29, 2014, Jones, Mesoner, and B.M. joined Humble and A.J. over the holiday. Humble reported to DHS that A.J. admitted having consumed alcohol at Humble’s home and that Jones and Mesoner had purchased it for him. An emergency order returning B.M. to DHS custody was entered on January 2, 2015.

Jones continued to work on the case plan. On March 10, 2015, a permanency-planning order was entered by the circuit court that provided that it was in the best interest of B.M. to return him to Jones because she was complying with the case plan and working diligently toward reunification and that termination of parental rights was not in his best interest. The court also ordered Jones to complete counseling and allowed visits with B.M. twice a week.

A fifteen-month review order was filed on June 80, 2015. The circuit court continued the goal of reunification with Jones “because the mom has been complying with the case plan and orders of this court and has made significant measurable progress toward achieving the goals established in the case plan, and the mom has been diligently working towards | reunification.” On August 11, 2015, an agreed order was entered stating that Jones’s hair-follicle test was negative and that it was in the best interest of B.M. and A.J. to have unsupervised visits with Jones for a minimum of two hours per week.

On September 16, 2015, a review order stated that Jones had been compliant and the goal remained reunification. This order awarded Jones a sixty-day trial placement with A. J. with several conditions, including but not limited to the following: A.J. must wear an ankle monitor at all times; 2 A.J. must attend school; and if A.J. nans away or fails to charge his monitor or cuts it off, Jones must call 911 and the caseworker.

A month later, on October 16, 2015, an agreed order was entered providing that Jones was to have one overnight visit with B.M. per week. On November 20, 2015, another agreed order was entered allowing Jones two overnight back-to-back visits with B.M. while his foster parents were out of town.

On November 24, 2015, during his trial placement with Jones, A.J. ran away from home. Jones did not immediately report this to law enforcement or DHS. He was picked up by the Garland County police on December 13, 2015. A DHS employee brought A.J. to the Lonoke County DHS Office. While waiting for his foster placement, A.J. ran away again.

On January 19, 2016, a permanency-planning hearing was held. At this hearing, the court found that B.M. and A.J. were in need of DHS services and that return to Jones’s custody was not in their best interest. The court changed the goal of the case to a plan of adoption and authorized DHS to file a petition for termination of parental rights. The court further found |fithat Jones had “not substantially complied” with the case plan. “She has completed some things, but has not made progress. She has completed all services, but it does not appear that the mother has changed her behavior or learned what she needed to from the services.”

DHS and B.M.’s attorney ad litem filed a joint petition for termination of Jones’s parental rights to B.M. on February 5, 2016. 3 After a hearing, the circuit court entered its April 7, 2016 order terminating Jones’s parental lights to B.M. The court found that DHS proved, by clear and convincing evidence, that termination was in B.M.’s best interest and was supported by the failure-to-remedy and subsequent-factors grounds.

[Tjhis case started with the mother abandoning her son [A.J.] at the courthouse. The mother stipulated to parental unfitness due to drug usage at the adjudication.

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Bluebook (online)
2017 Ark. App. 125, 515 S.W.3d 151, 2017 Ark. App. LEXIS 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2017.