Weathers v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

2014 Ark. App. 142, 433 S.W.3d 271, 2014 WL 766678, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 191
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 26, 2014
DocketCV-13-938
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2014 Ark. App. 142 (Weathers 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
Weathers v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2014 Ark. App. 142, 433 S.W.3d 271, 2014 WL 766678, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 191 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge.

h Linda Vondran and Richard Weathers appeal a Pulaski County Circuit Court order that terminated their parental rights to their child D.V. We affirm.

I. Background

This case started with a telephone call to the state child-abuse hotline. The anonymous caller alleged that Linda Vondran was mentally challenged and unable to care for D.V., a newborn. The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) began to investigate these allegations in June 2012 while Linda and D.V. were still in the hospital under observation. DHS’s investigative report states that the hospital staff was concerned about Linda’s behavior and that she had not been feeding the baby. A few days later the hospital admitted Linda into its psychiatric ward because of suicidal ideations. DHS exercised an emergency hold on D.V. Linda’s mental condition and how it affects her ability to care for D.V. is a primary issue in this case. Also at issue here is the behavior of |2P.V.’s father, Richard Weathers. During its initial investigation, DHS learned from Linda that Richard was in prison because he was “mean to her” and had “pulled a knife” on her while she was pregnant with D.V.

The circuit court granted DHS’s ex parte request for emergency custody on 25 June 2012. Three days later the court entered an interim order, requiring that Linda submit to a psychological evaluation and random drug-and-alcohol screenings. The court also ordered DHS to perform DNA testing to see if Richard Weathers was D.V.’s father, and it prohibited Richard from contacting D.V.

In July 2012 the court adjudicated D.V. dependent neglected due to the emergency conditions that led to his removal from his mother’s custody. The court found that Linda was not emotionally equipped to care for D.V. and was admitted to a psychiatric ward because of suicidal ideations. The court found that, based on Linda’s testimony at the hearing, she was “unable to meet minimum requirements of being a parent due to low mental functioning (which was obvious to the Court), particularly given the fact that we are dealing with a newborn child who is 100% dependent on the caregiver to meet his every imaginable need.” The court’s concern for D.V.’s welfare was also fueled by its finding that Linda was a “domestic violence victim and intends to return to her abuser.” The court advised Linda that a reunion with D.V. “will be more difficult for her to achieve” if she remained with Richard, that she did not have an unlimited amount of time to pursúe reunification with D.V:, and that the court had “other means of achieving permanency ... which include[s] termination of parental rights and adoption.” The court granted Linda supervised visitation with D.V. but ordered that Richard have no |scontact with the child upon his release from prison. The court also set the case goal as reunification and approved DHS’s case plan.

At a November 2012 review hearing, the court determined that no progress had been inade. It found that Linda had subjected D.V. to “aggravated circumstances” based on Linda’s testimony and her psychological evaluation. The court was particularly concerned that Linda continued to express suicidal ideations and that she intended to reunite with Richard when he was released from prison. Dr. Paul Dey-oub, who conducted Linda’s psychological evaluation, wrote that Linda’s “IQ was 63, her adaptive ability is just as low, she has no concept how to live independently, how to take care of the baby, how to keep herself and the baby safe, or how to provide for this child ... she is not capable of taking care of this child and the baby should not be placed with her.” In a written order, the court found that DHS had made reasonable efforts to further the goal of reunification, including foster-care placement and board payment, referrals for counseling, a referral for DNA paternity testing, psychological evaluations, and a referral for parenting classes, but that these services were unlikely to result in a successful reunification because of Linda’s limited participation. The court ordered her to follow up on her individual counseling and “get whatever mental health services she can as she needs to be under regular mental health services.” The court also wrote: “the mother has her work cut out for her,” but that it intended to give her more time to try to reunite with D.V. The court’s order also stated that if Richard was determined to be the biological father of D.V., then DHS was to provide services for him too.

|4In December 2012, Linda’s court-appointed attorney moved the court to appoint Linda an attorney ad litem because of concerns about her low IQ and the results of Dr. Deyoub’s psychological evaluation. The court granted the request and appointed a attorney ad litem for Linda.

At the permanency-planning hearing in April 2018 the circuit court changed the case goal from reunification to adoption, concluding that there had been “a lack of material progress” and that a return of D.V. to his mother’s custody would be contrary to his welfare and not in his best interest. The court found that Linda had made a statement about intending to harm D.V. and reasoned that “[i]t appears to the Court that the mother is unable to take care of herself much less a child.”

The permanency-planning order stated that Richard Weathers is D.V.’s biological father and that DHS had submitted reports on Richard. The court considered the results of Richard’s psychological evaluation in its decision to change the case goal from reunification to adoption. Dr. Deyoub diagnosed Richard with borderline intellectual functioning and antisocial-personality disorder. The court relied on Dr. Deyoub’s conclusion that Weathers “is an antisocial individual with a substantial history of criminal activity, domestic abuse, incarceration, drug dealing, and infidelity. Almost every area of his life is affected by his antisocial personality and conduct. I could not think of a worse fate for [D.V.], at 9 months of age, than to be placed with either of these two people [Linda and Richard]. I am not recommending any services for Richard Weathers and recommend no contact with [D.V.] ”

|sThe court ordered Richard to continue in therapy and counseling, attend anger-management counseling at DHS’s expense, attend domestic-abuse counseling at DHS’s expense, attend parenting classes, submit to random drug-and-alcohol screens, clear up his criminal charges, and maintain stable and appropriate housing and income. The court ordered Linda to attend individual therapy and counseling, attend parenting classes, submit to random drug-and-alcohol screens, stay on her medications, and comply with medication management as recommended.

For DHS’s part, the court concluded that it had made reasonable efforts to provide reunification services between the parents and D.V. The court found that DHS had provided referrals for counseling, a referral for DNA paternity testing, psychological evaluations, referrals for parenting classes, worker visits, psychiatric and medication management, drug screens, daycare transportation, car seat, clothes voucher, and medical services.

DHS petitioned to terminate Linda Von-dran’s and Richard Weathers’s parental rights to D.V. in May 2018, and the court held a termination hearing two months later.

II. Termination Hearing

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 Ark. App. 142, 433 S.W.3d 271, 2014 WL 766678, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weathers-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2014.