Lawrence v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.

548 S.W.3d 192
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedApril 4, 2018
DocketNo. CV–17–730
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 548 S.W.3d 192 (Lawrence v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.) 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
Lawrence v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., 548 S.W.3d 192 (Ark. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

RAYMOND R. ABRAMSON, Judge

Misty Lawrence appeals the Greene County Circuit Court order terminating her parental rights to her daughter, F.R. On appeal, Lawrence argues that the circuit court erred by (1) not complying with the notice provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA); (2) terminating her parental rights based on grounds not pled in the amended petition; and (3) finding that it is in F.R.'s best interest to terminate her parental rights. We affirm.

On March 11, 2016, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a petition for emergency custody and dependency-neglect concerning F.R. The petition listed Lawrence as the mother and Joshua Richer1 as the putative father. In the affidavit attached to the petition, DHS stated that it had received a report from the hospital where F.R. was born that Lawrence could not adequately care for the child. Specifically, a nurse reported that the nursing staff had been feeding *194F.R. more than Lawrence and that Lawrence had been talking to herself and had scabies. Lawrence admitted that she had had her rights terminated to two other children due to her mental instability. DHS visited Lawrence's duplex and found it inappropriate for the child. The court entered an ex parte order for emergency custody the day the petition was filed.

On March 16, 2016, the court entered a probable-cause order. In the order, the court included the following:

The mother does/does not have membership in or descent from an Indian Tribe; the legal/putative father does/does not have membership in or descent from an Indian tribe; the juvenile does/does nothave membership in or descent from an Indian tribe.

The phrase "does not" appears to be scratched through.

On May 12, 2016, the court adjudicated F.R. dependent-neglected based on both inadequate supervision due to Lawrence's failure to feed the child as directed and concerns about her mental health. The adjudication order also contains the language concerning the "legal/putative father['s]" relationship to an Indian tribe; however, a line is not drawn through "does not."

On September 26, 2016, the court entered a review order. The court found that Lawrence had partially complied with the case plan. The court noted a primary concern had been environmental neglect and that Lawrence's home still had "a strong odor of animal urine." The court ordered Lawrence to have supervised visitation at the DHS office for one hour or more.

On March 6, 2017, the court entered a permanency-planning order. The court found that Lawrence had complied with the case plan but had not made substantial, measurable progress. The court changed the goal of the case to adoption with DHS filing a petition for termination of Lawrence's parental rights. The court continued Lawrence's visitation with F.R. for one hour every two weeks.

On April 12, 2017, DHS filed a petition for termination of parental rights. DHS alleged the failure-to-remedy ground,2 subsequent-factors ground,3 and aggravated-circumstances ground.4 About twenty minutes after DHS had filed its original complaint, DHS filed an amended petition for termination of Lawrence's parental rights. In the amended petition, DHS stated,

1. The Department filed a petition to terminate parental rights on April 12, 2017. The Certificate of Service on that petition did not have a date or signature.
2. This amended petition is for the sole purpose of correcting the certificate of service on the original petition. The original petition's certificate of service shall be amended to look exactly as the certificate of service on this petition below.

On May 15, 2017, the court held a termination hearing. Kim Bliss, a family-service worker, testified that she had visited Lawrence at the hospital after F.R.'s birth, and Lawrence told Bliss that she talked to herself on some occasions. Lawrence explained that she talked to herself because having F.R. was stressful. Lawrence further told Bliss that she had been on medications but that she was no longer taking them and that she had scabies because she forgot to bathe. Lawrence also reported to Bliss that her home was not clean but that she could clean it up. Bliss testified that she visited Lawrence's home the next *195morning and that the home had roaches, dirty dishes, trash, food, and screws and nails "all over the place." Bliss noted that Lawrence had a baby bed and baby "stuff" for F.R.

Bliss stated that during the pendency of the case, Lawrence had watched "The Clock is Ticking" video, maintained stable housing and employment, completed her parenting classes and psychological referral, and visited F.R. However, she stated that Lawrence had not completed the recommendations of her psychological referral and had not improved her home. As to the psychological recommendations, Bliss testified that they included that Lawrence comply with medication management and mental-health services. She explained that Lawrence had not consistently taken her medication and had frequently missed her therapy appointments. She discussed an incident in October 2016 when Lawrence was not taking her medication. Specifically, Lawrence had a fight with Richer, threatened to take a bottle of pills, and cut herself in the leg with a knife. Lawrence was arrested for disorderly conduct and went to the hospital for the gash in her leg, where she received staples.

Bliss testified that Lawrence had several animals living in her duplex and that the duplex had a strong odor of ammonia. She stated that the duplex also was infested with bed bugs, fleas, roaches, and mice. She testified that Lawrence removed the dog that had the worst urinary incontinence problem in November 2016 but that in March 2017, a family with two cats moved into Lawrence's duplex. Bliss stated that she most recently visited Lawrence's duplex on May 8, 2017, and that Lawrence had only two dogs living there. She further testified that it was clean but still had roaches, even after DHS provided Lawrence with roach repellent. She further testified that Richer had moved out of the duplex in December 2016 and that Lawrence's new boyfriend, Peter Carter, had moved in in January 2017. She testified that she gave Carter paperwork to complete a nationwide-maltreatment-registry search in January 2017, but he delayed completing the paperwork until May 5, 2017, and the results can take six to eight weeks. She noted that Carter has a history with DHS in Missouri, but the Missouri office cannot release the records without Carter's consent, and Carter refused to sign a consent form.

As to F.R., Bliss testified that she is doing well and that she is bonded to her foster parents. She stated that F.R.'s foster parents are committed to adopting F.R. if Lawrence's rights are terminated. She testified that when Lawrence visits the child, F.R. cries almost the entire visit. She stated that Lawrence tries to console and distract F.R. but that the child prefers her foster parents. She noted that Lawrence often brings F.R. appropriate clothing, and during the visitations, she feeds the child. She stated that Lawrence had fed F.R. inappropriately and that she had to instruct Lawrence on proper feeding practices, but Lawrence had listened and had modified her practices.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
548 S.W.3d 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawrence-v-ark-dept-of-human-servs-arkctapp-2018.