Welch v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

378 S.W.3d 290, 2010 Ark. App. 798, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 837
Court of Appeals of Arkansas·Decided December 1, 2010·No. No. CA 10-699·Published·Cited by 54 cases

Opinion

RITA W. GRUBER, Judge.

| jDalesha Welch appeals from the Washington County Circuit Court’s order terminating her parental rights to her daughter, B.W., born July 9, 2006. On appeal, Welch argues that the circuit court erred in finding that it was in B.W.’s best interest for Welch’s parental rights to be terminated.1 We affirm.

Welch was a sixteen-year-old minor when she gave birth to B.W. The Department of Human Services (DHS) took B.W. into emergency custody on February 8, 2008, when a hospital reported that both Welch and B.W. had tested positive for methamphetamine and Welch admitted to the caseworker that she had been using methamphetamine over a period of six months. At the time of B.W.’s removal, B.W.’s legal custodians were Welch’s mother hand stepfather, Trena and Jeremy Roberts, due to Welch having been placed on probation by the juvenile court on a theft charge. The court issued its order for emergency custody on February 11, 2008.

The court later found probable cause for entry of the emergency order. The court ordered no visitation between Welch and B.W. or between B.W. and her grandmother and step grandfather. DHS was ordered to have a comprehensive developmental assessment done on B.W. and to ensure that all of her shots and other medical needs were met.

On April 3, 2008, the court held an adjudication hearing and found B.W. dependent-neglected as a result of neglect and parental unfitness, both by Welch and by her mother and stepfather.2 The goal of the case was to be reunification with Welch, who was allowed supervised visitation twice per week. The court ordered Welch to, inter alia, complete a psychological evaluation and individual counseling; refrain from illegal drug use; submit to and pass random drug tests; and complete parenting classes with the ability to demonstrate appropriate parenting after completion of the classes. Welch was also ordered to comply with the terms of her probation and follow the case plan as modified. Finally, the court found that Welch was able to pay child support and ordered her to pay $25 per week.

A review hearing was held on August 6, 2008. The court found that Welch continued | ato be unstable and had not addressed her parenting or drug-addiction issues. Although the court found that Welch had completed twelve hours of parenting classes and passed six drug screens, she had not attended visitation with B.W., submitted to a psychological evaluation, or attended counseling. Welch had also been arrested twice since the adjudication hearing and had failed to pay child support as ordered. The court further found that Welch’s excuses for her noncompliance were not legitimate. In addition to the prior orders, Welch was ordered to follow the terms of her probation, successfully complete the drug-court program, not drive on a suspended license, obtain her GED by September 3, 2008, follow the case plan, and attend all of her visitation with B.W.

A permanency-planning hearing was held on February 11, 2009. The court continued the goal of reunification, finding that Welch had complied with all of the court’s orders and the case plan. This included attending counseling, complying with the drug-court program, passing drug screens, paying child support, and cooperating with DHS. The court noted that Welch had made some progress toward alleviating the problems that led to B.W.’s removal. However, the court noted that Welch had been arrested on August 14, 2008, for failure to appear. The court authorized Welch to have four hours of unsupervised visitation every Thursday once her fiance Chad Hunt passed a drug screen. The visitation could be expanded to include overnight visitation.

The court also found that Welch was in willful contempt for the period of April 2008 through August 6, 2008, for failure to comply with various orders of the court, including |4failure to visit with B.W., failure to submit to a psychological evaluation, failure to pay child support, failure to maintain stable housing and employment, failure to attend counseling, and failure to complete parenting classes. Welch was sentenced to serve thirty days in the county jail; however, the court suspended the sentence for six months on the condition that Welch follow all court orders.

After two permanency-planning hearings where the court found that Welch had complied with all of the court’s orders and the case plan, the court authorized a trial placement of B.W. with Welch.3 The court also ruled that, if the trial placement was successful, custody of B.W. would be returned to Welch on November 7, 2009.

The court held an emergency hearing on November 4, 2009, at which time B.W. was placed back into DHS’s care. The court found that Welch was unstable in her housing, her employment, and her relationship with Chad Hunt because she had lied to DHS about thése matters. The court also found that Welch had not successfully completed the drug court and was an unfit mother. The court concluded that the trial placement had failed. Visits were to be supervised. The court also issued a show-cause order to determine whether Welch was in contempt of court.

At the December 18, 2009 permanency-planning hearing, the court found that Welch was no longer making significant, measurable progress or diligently working toward | ¡¡reunification, and it accordingly changed the goal of the case to adoption. The court found that Welch had not complied with any of the court’s orders or the case plan. The court specifically found that Welch was unfit and that the trial placement was unsuccessful. The court found that Welch admitted to using drugs during the trial placement. The court terminated the visitation between Welch and B.W. The court further found Welch in contempt of court and sentenced her to sixty days in the county jail to be served immediately.

DHS filed a petition for termination of parental rights on December 31, 2009. The petition asserted three grounds for termination, including the “twelve-month failure to remedy” ground, see Ark.Code Ann. § 9 — 27—341(b)(3)(B)(i) (a) (Repl. 2009); the “twelve-month willful failure to provide support or maintain meaningful contact” ground, see Ark.Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(S)(B)(ii) (a); and the “other subsequent factors” ground, see Ark.Code Ann. § 9 — 27—341(b)(3)(B)(vii) (a).

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Welch v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 378 S.W.3d 290, 2010 Ark. App. 798, 2010 Ark. App. LEXIS 837 (Ark. Ct. App. 2010).

378 S.W.3d 290 (Welch v. Arkansas Department of Human Services) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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