Spencer v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

426 S.W.3d 494, 2013 Ark. App. 96, 2013 WL 530301, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 104
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 13, 2013
DocketNo. CA 12-801
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 426 S.W.3d 494 (Spencer 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
Spencer v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 426 S.W.3d 494, 2013 Ark. App. 96, 2013 WL 530301, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 104 (Ark. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

KENNETH S. HIXSON, Judge.

bln this case, Bradley and Carrie Spencer separately appeal the Sebastian County Circuit Court’s termination of their parental rights to their four children: three daughters, A.S., born September 23, 1999; H.S., born February 2, 2002; and T.S., born March 12, 2004; and a son, B.S., born September 10, 2006. On appeal, Bradley Spencer argues that there is insufficient evidence to' support the circuit court’s order. Counsel for Carrie Spencer has filed a no-merit brief pursuant to Linker-Flores v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004). Carrie Spencer has also belatedly filed pro se points for reversal. We affirm the termination of parental rights of both parents.

_[aBackground and Procedural History

This case began on February 19, 2010, when the Department of Human Services (DHS) exercised a seventy-two-hour hold and took the minor children into custody following the arrest of Bradley Spencer on drug charges. There were allegations of environmental neglect and inadequate supervision by Carrie Spencer, as well as the possibility of her arrest on the drug charges. DHS filed its petition for emergency custody on February 22, 2010. An ex parte order granting custody of the children to DHS was also entered on February 22, 2010. The court later found probable cause for éntry of the emergency order.

At the adjudication hearing, the circuit court found the children to be dependent-neglected based on the arrest of Bradley Spencer on drug charges and the children being in the home at the time of the criminal activity. .The court placed custody of the children with Deborah Wofford, their maternal grandmother. The parents were ordered to, among other things, obtain and maintain appropriate housing, sufficient income, and transportation; complete parenting classes; submit to random drug screens, including hair-follicle testing; submit to a psychological evaluation and complete any counseling recommended; submit to a drug-and-alcohol assessment and complete any treatment recommended; comply with the terms and conditions of any criminal sentence; and visit regularly.

A few weeks later, on June 21, 2010, DHS filed a motion for emergency change of custody on the basis that the police had found B.S. walking alone in the street in the direction of his grandmother’s home. The case worker and police found that all four children were with their mother, unsupervised, despite being in the temporary legal custody of their |agrandmother. Later that day, the grandmother refused to disclose the location of two of the children and was arrested. The children were returned to DHS’s custody after a finding that it was not in the best interest of the children to remain with their grandmother.

Over the next two years, there were several review hearings and two permanency-planning hearings; the children remained with DHS. The court found that each parent had partially complied with the case plan; however, significant problems remained. Carrie Spencer continued to test positive for drugs and had not found any employment, and Bradley Spencer lacked suitable housing. The court returned custody of A.S. to Carrie Spencer on a trial basis. However, this placement failed because Carrie Spencer continued to test positive for drugs and failed to comply with the court’s order that she obtain employment, despite having a college degree. The court subsequently changed the goal of the case to termination of parental rights and adoption.

DHS filed its petition seeking the termination of the parental rights of both parents on April 18, 2012. The petition alleged two grounds: that twelve months had passed and the parents had failed to remedy the cause for removal, see Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(i)(a) (Repl. 2009); and that subsequent issues had arisen since removal warranting termination. See ,Ark.Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(vii)(a).

The case proceeded to a termination hearing on June 29, 2012. The circuit court ruled from the bench and granted the petition for termination. The court found that DHS had proved one ground for termination in that the children had been adjudicated dependent-neglected; that they had remained out of the parents’ custody for more than twelve |4months; that DHS had made meaningful efforts to provide rehabilitative services; and that, despite those efforts, the conditions that caused removal had not been remedied. The court also found that the children were adoptable and that termination of parental rights was in their best interest.

The court addressed each parent’s situation separately. First, the court found that while Bradley Spencer had partially complied with the case plan, he did not want counseling. The court noted that he had only been in his apartment for approximately one month, and that the two-bedroom apartment had no bedding for his children. The court noted that Bradley Spencer’s priorities were misplaced because he moved his girlfriend and her child into the apartment, instead of obtaining a suitable home for his own children.

As for Carrie Spencer, the court noted her lack of credibility. The court found that she had stable housing, albeit paid for by her family. She had also completed residential drug treatment, completed a psychological evaluation, visited on a regular basis, and had her own transportation. The court further noted that Carrie Spencer had only recently obtained employment and had been living off the support of family members. The court found that she had not been able to overcome her drug addiction, including testing positive within the past week. The court also found that the children would be at risk of harm, both psychologically and physically, if returned to either parent. This appeal followed.

Standard of Review

We review termination-of-parental-rights cases de novo. Meriweather v. Ark. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., 98 Ark.App. 328, 255 S.W.3d 505 (2007). In cases where the issue |sis one of termination of parental rights, there is a heavy burden placed upon the party seeking to terminate the relationship. Trout v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 359 Ark. 283, 197 S.W.3d 486 (2004). Termination of parental rights is an extreme remedy in derogation of the natural rights of the parents. Id. Nevertheless, parental rights will not be enforced to the detriment or destruction of the health and well being of the child and must give way to the best interest of the child, when the natural parents seriously fail to provide reasonable care for their minor children. Camarillo-Cox v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 360 Ark. 340, 201 S.W.3d 391 (2005). Pursuant to Arkansas Code. Annotated section 9-27-341(b)(3),' an order terminating parental rights must be based upon clear and convincing evidence, i.e., proof that will produce in the fact-fínder a firm conviction as to the verity of the allegation sought to be established. Camarillo-Cox, supra. We do not reverse a termination order unless the circuit court’s findings are clearly erroneous. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
426 S.W.3d 494, 2013 Ark. App. 96, 2013 WL 530301, 2013 Ark. App. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spencer-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2013.