White v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

344 S.W.3d 87, 2009 Ark. App. 609, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 770
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 23, 2009
DocketCA 09-221
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 344 S.W.3d 87 (White 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
White v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 344 S.W.3d 87, 2009 Ark. App. 609, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 770 (Ark. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

DAVID M. GLOVER, Judge.

11 On December 2, 2008, the Jefferson County Circuit Court entered its order terminating the parental rights of appellant Natasha White to her two children, M.L.S. and M.S. White brings this appeal and argues that appellee Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) failed to comply with various statutory requirements and that the evidence was insufficient to support the court’s findings. We affirm.

On March 6, 2007, DHS exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on the children. According to the affidavit filed in support of the petition for emergency custody, White’s landlord found the children unsupervised in White’s apartment and called the police. M.S. was transported to |2the hospital because he was unresponsive and weighed only ten pounds. M.S. also had scabies. The worker found that the house had dirty diapers strewn on the floor. White told the worker that she had run out of formula two days earlier and had not fed the children since that time. White was arrested and charged with two counts of felony child endangerment. An order for emergency custody was entered on March 8, 2007.

At the probable cause hearing on March 12, 2007, White stipulated to the existence of probable cause. The court continued the children in the custody of DHS. No visitation was allowed between White and her children based upon the alleged acts of maltreatment. 1

At the April 26, 2007 adjudication hearing, White stipulated to a finding of dependency-neglect. The children were to remain in DHS’s custody, with White allowed to have supervised visits at the department’s office once a week. White was ordered to (1) cooperate with DHS; (2) keep DHS informed of her residence, place and status of employment, and notify the department of any changes; (3) submit to a psychological evaluation; (4) complete parenting classes and demonstrate improved, appropriate parenting skills after the completion of the classes; (5) obtain and maintain stable housing and employment; (6) maintain a clean and safe home for herself and the children; (7) comply with the case plan; and (8) obey the court’s orders. White was also required to complete homemaker services and ^maintain a home with working utilities. The court also found that DHS had made reasonable efforts to prevent the removal and to safely reunify the family since the children’s removal from White.

A review hearing was held on August 8, 2007. The court found that White had made some progress in correcting the problems that led to the removal of the children. However, it was ordered that the children remain in foster care because White did not have her own home. The visitation plan was continued. DHS was found to have made reasonable efforts toward the permanency goal of reunification with White.

On September 20, 2007, DHS filed a motion to terminate White’s visitation, based on the assertion that White’s visitation was in violation of the no-contact order entered in White’s criminal case. White opposed the motion and argued that the juvenile court should order DHS to petition the criminal court to set aside its no-contact order. She also asked the criminal court to vacate its order. The juvenile court granted the motion to terminate visitation, adding that it would follow the orders of the criminal court in regard to the no-contact order.

On February 5, 2008, the court held a permanency-planning hearing and found that the ease plan’s goal of adoption was appropriate. The children remained in the custody of DHS because White did not have a home or job, and had failed to make “much effort to secure either.” White had only partially complied with the case plan and court orders and had made only minimal progress toward alleviating or mitigating the causes of the children’s removal. The |4court also found that DHS had made reasonable efforts to provide family services toward reunifying the family.

DHS filed its petition to terminate White’s parental rights on May 14, 2008. The petition alleged three grounds for termination, including that the children had been adjudicated dependent-neglected and remained out of the home for more than twelve months and, that despite reasonable efforts from DHS, White failed to remedy the cause of the juveniles’ removal.

White responded to the termination petition and admitted that the children had been adjudicated dependent-neglected and remained out of the home for more than twelve months. However, she asserted that DHS had failed to make reasonable efforts to provide reunification services. White also denied the other two grounds asserted by the department. She alleged that DHS had failed to follow statutory requirements, including that the case plans specify the problems that caused removal of the children, the steps White needed to take to regain custody of the children, and the time frame for taking those steps.

On June 19, 2008, White entered a negotiated guilty plea to one count of endangering the welfare of a minor and was placed on forty-eight months’ probation. Another count of endangering the welfare of a minor and a hot-check charge were nolle prossed. White was also ordered to attend parenting classes and not to have any contact with the children unless authorized by DHS.

IfiAnother review hearing was held on September 3, 2008. The court found that it was contrary to the children’s health and safety to return them to White because she had failed to comply with the case plan and court orders and had made no progress toward correcting the causes of the children’s initial removal from her custody. The court found DHS had made reasonable efforts and had complied with the case plan and court orders.

The termination hearing was held on October 22, 2008. Leanita Hughes, the DHS case worker, testified that it was the department’s recommendation that White’s parental rights be terminated. She said that the department was ordered to provide transportation to White, to refer White for a psychological evaluation, and to ascertain the criminal charges pending against White. White had, Hughes said, partially complied with the court’s order by completing her parenting classes and submitting to the psychological evaluation. However, White had not maintained stable housing or employment, and had not kept the department informed of her address. Hughes said that, during visitation at McDonald’s, White never had the money to feed the children. According to Hughes, she discussed the recommendations of the psychological evaluation with both White and with White’s attorney. She said that the department was never ordered to provide White with counseling, in part, because White was found not indigent. Also, White never asked for counseling and said that she did not need it. Hughes asserted that White was not in a position to regain custody of her children and had not demonstrated the ability to [ (¡parent them. Further, White had not accepted responsibility for leaving the children alone, improperly feeding the children, or the environmental issues. Hughes said that the department has no confidence that White could meet the children’s needs if they were returned to her care.

On cross-examination, Hughes testified that White should not have been allowed any visitation because of the no-contact order from the criminal court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
344 S.W.3d 87, 2009 Ark. App. 609, 2009 Ark. App. LEXIS 770, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2009.