Leonard v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

377 S.W.3d 511, 2010 Ark. App. 605, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 643
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 15, 2010
DocketNo. CA 10-396
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 377 S.W.3d 511 (Leonard 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
Leonard v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 377 S.W.3d 511, 2010 Ark. App. 605, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 643 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

KAREN R. BAKER, Judge.

|! Appellant Anna Leonard appeals from the January 19, 2010 order terminating her parental rights to her children A.H., born July 18, 2005, and K.H., born February 1, 2007.1 Appellant timely filed a notice of appeal on February 2, 2010. Appellant’s counsel has filed' a no-merit brief pursuant to Linker-Flores v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004), and Arkansas Supreme Court Rule 6 — 9(i), asserting that there are no issues that would support a meritorious appeal and requesting to be relieved as counsel. The clerk of this court mailed a certified copy of counsel’s motion and brief to appellant, | ¡.informing her of her right to file pro se points for reversal, and the green card was returned. Appellant has filed no pro se points for appeal. We grant counsel’s motion to withdraw and affirm the order terminating appellant’s parental rights.

On May 7, 2009, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (“DHS”) took A.H. and K.H. into its custody on an emergency basis. DHS workers responded to a call from the Pulaski County Sheriffs Office that appellant’s two young children were playing in the road and had almost been hit by a truck. The DHS workers reported that the home was “filthy,” there were large quantities of drugs and drug paraphernalia in the home, and K.H. appeared to have burns on his face and side. Appellant was arrested for child endangerment, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana. The circuit court entered an emergency order on May 9, 2008, placing custody of the two children with DHS. At a hearing held on May 15, 2008, the court found probable cause to believe the children were dependent-neglected. The court adjudicated the children dependent-neglected on June 17, 2008, based on appellant’s failure to properly supervise and her recent arrest. The court made further findings that appellant was unfit because of her recent suicide attempt, she had no explanation for K.H.’s injuries and had not sought medical treatment for them, she had failed drug screens, the children’s environment and the condition of the home were concerning, and she had a history of behavior problems in her prior juvenile-court case. The court stated that the goal in the case was reunification. The court then ordered appellant to obtain a psychological examination and follow its recommendations, complete parenting classes, submit to drug and | aalcohol screens and a drug and alcohol assessment and to follow its recommendations, obtain and maintain stable housing and income, and attend NA meetings and maintain attendance records. The court also ordered paternity testing for Kyle Hughes with respect to the two children and ordered Hughes to comply with conditions that are not relevant to this appeal.

At the review hearing held on September 23, 2008, appellant was attending inpatient drug treatment. The court authorized visitation for appellant, but noted that the mother was in danger of being discharged from the treatment program due to violations of the program rules. On February 17, 2009, and June 23, 2009, the court held permanency-planning hearings and found that appellant’s efforts to comply with the court’s orders were compelling reasons to continue toward the goal of reunification. Appellant was employed and had successfully completed the drug-treatment program, and the two children were going home for weekend visits.

By the September 15, 2009 permanency-planning hearing, the court changed the goal to termination of parental rights. It stated that appellant lacked any semblance of credibility at that time. The court found that appellant had unstable housing, tested positive for drugs and possibly gave false samples, and had outstanding warrants.

On December 9, 2009, the court held a termination-of-parental-rights hearing. DHS presented evidence that appellant was receiving intensive family services through HLH Consultants from June to August 2009. The services were aimed at teaching appellant how to deal with the children’s behaviors during the period that the children were having weekend | ¿visits in her home. The services were terminated in August when DHS discovered appellant was not living in the housing for which the home visits had been approved, but was living with her father due to a problem with the septic system in her trailer.

Further, appellant had failed to continue attending NA meetings, and beginning with her October drug tests, the tests started to arouse concern. When a urine test registered no temperature, suggesting that the sample had been altered, the court ordered a hair-follicle test. That test returned positive for methamphetamine, and a December 7, 2009 drug test returned positive for methamphetamine, THC, and Benzodiazepine. At the hearing, appellant vehemently denied using meth, saying instead that her drug of choice was pills or marijuana, which she admitted to smoking approximately four weeks prior to the hearing.

Appellant had not obtained stable housing, moved frequently both with and without KH.’s father, and had not maintained stable employment, as she was laid off from her job in October. Appellant’s DHS caseworker testified that she had attempted to no avail to assist appellant in setting up individual counseling, that the visits with the children did not go well, and that the parents’ behavior around the children had an adverse effect on the children. She testified that the children would strike appellant, the parents would get physically violent with one another, and the parents would curse at one another.

Appellant was also arrested in May 2009 for theft of property, for which she received probation. She was also on probation for the child-endangerment and drug charges. In September 2009, appellant was arrested on an outstanding warrant for a probation revocation for failure to pay probation fees.

| .^Psychological examiner Dr. Paul Dey-oub testified extensively at the hearing regarding appellant’s psychological evaluation. He opined that appellant was a very troubled young woman, with a long history of drug abuse, behavior problems, and personality disorder. He stated his belief that appellant was an unfit parent.

Based on the evidence presented at the hearing, the trial court granted the petition to terminate appellant’s parental rights. In its January 29, 2010 order, the court stated as follows:

The Court finds it to be contrary to the children’s best interests, health and safety, and welfare to return them to the parental care and custody of their parents and further finds that [DHS] has proven by clear and convincing evidence that a[sic] juveniles have been adjudicated by the court to be dependent-neglected and has continued out of the custody of the parents for twelve months and, despite a meaningful effort by [DHS] to rehabilitate the parent and correct the conditions that caused removal, those conditions have not been remedied by the parents.

From this order, appellant filed this appeal.

We turn first to the question whether there is clear and convincing evidence to support the circuit court’s decision to terminate appellant’s parental rights. See Linker-Flores v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs. (II), 364 Ark.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Mary Williams v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and Minor Child
2022 Ark. App. 162 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2022)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
377 S.W.3d 511, 2010 Ark. App. 605, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leonard-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2010.