Wittig v. Arkansas Department of Human Services

423 S.W.3d 143, 2012 Ark. App. 502, 2012 WL 4128306, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 633
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 19, 2012
DocketNo. CA 12-294
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 423 S.W.3d 143 (Wittig 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
Wittig v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 423 S.W.3d 143, 2012 Ark. App. 502, 2012 WL 4128306, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 633 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

ROBIN F. WYNNE, Judge.

_JjTara Wittig, Randy Millsap, and Josh Davis separately appeal from the order of the circuit court terminating their parental rights to their children. We affirm the order of the circuit court as to all three appellants.

This case began on March 5, 2010, when the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS or the Department) took a seventy-two-hour hold on four children, T.M. (born December 9, 2001), S.M. (born September 30, 2003), A.M. (born August 10, 2005), and M.D. (born July 12, 2009). Tara Wittig is the mother of all four children. Randy Millsap is the father of T.M., S.M., and A.M. Josh Davis is the father of M.D.

At the time the children were taken into DHS custody, they lived with Tara. The affidavit that accompanied the Department’s petition for emergency custody and dependency-neglect stated that the children were inadequately supervised in the home, that there was ^inadequate food in the home, and that the children reported that they did not want to go home to their mother due to drug use in the home. The Department drug tested Tara and Josh. Tara tested positive for methamphetamine and THC, which is the active substance in marijuana. Josh Davis tested positive for THC.

The circuit court granted DHS emergency custody of the children on March 9, 2010. On March 17, 2010, the circuit court entered an order in which it found probable cause to believe that the children were dependent-neglected. The circuit court entered an order on April 28, 2010, in which it adjudicated the children dependent-neglected due to parental unfitness, inadequate supervision, and failed drug screens by Tara and Josh.

The circuit court kept the children in DHS custody following a review hearing on October 19, 2010. In the resulting order, the circuit court found that Tara had two positive drug screens in March 2010, followed by eight negative drug screens, that she was employed, that she was living in a two-bedroom apartment with Randy Millsap’s parents, that she had completed an inpatient drug program, and that she had completed parenting classes. The circuit court found that Josh Davis had obtained and maintained stable housing, that he was unemployed after leaving the army reserves, that he had two positive drug screens in March 2010, followed by two negative drug screens, and that he had maintained sporadic contact with the Department. There was testimony that Randy was incarcerated and had received a four-year sentence for manufacturing methamphetamine and an additional two-year sentence for failure to appear. The circuit court also found that Randy had provided proof of Narcotics Anonymous meeting attendance, that he had three negative drug screens and that |3he had not maintained regular contact with the Department. Josh was found to be $900 in arrears on his court-ordered child-support payments, and Randy was found to be $1850 in arrears on his payments.

A permanency-planning hearing was held on August 16, 2011. For reasons that are unexplained, no written order was entered after the hearing. In its termination order, the circuit court attempts to reconstruct the testimony from that hearing. Terri Blanchard, a foster-care supervisor, testified that Tara did not have stable housing, at times the Department was unaware of Tara’s whereabouts, and that a man identified as her fiancé would not allow her to give contact information, would not submit to a drug test, and was hostile toward DHS staff at a staffing. Randy was still incarcerated. Josh had stable housing and was employed. However, he had not been consistent with his visitation and continued to have a relationship with Tara. After hearing the testimony, the circuit court changed the goal of the case to termination of parental rights and adoption.

DHS filed a petition for termination of parental rights on October 7, 2011. In the petition, the Department alleged the following grounds in support of termination: (1) that the children had been out of the parent’s custody for twelve months and the conditions that led to their removal had not been remedied; (2) that the children had been out of the parent’s custody for twelve months and each parent had willfully failed to provide meaningful support or maintain meaningful contact with the children; (3) that other factors arose subsequent to the filing of the petition that demonstrate that return of the children to any parent would be contrary to the children’s health, safety, and welfare, and, despite the offer of appropriate ^services, each parent had manifested the incapacity or indifference to remedy the subsequent issues or factors; and (4) that Randy was sentenced in a criminal proceeding for a period of time that would constitute a substantial period of the children’s lives.

At the hearing on DHS’s petition, which was held on December 13, 2011, Terry Blanchard testified that Randy was incarcerated on drug-related offenses and that a true finding of sexual abuse on two of his children had been made against him after he was incarcerated. As a result of his incarceration, Randy had no stable housing or employment. Randy had not been compliant with the case plan prior to his incarceration. Josh had stable housing and employment. A visit was made to Josh’s home just prior to the hearing, and there was nothing negative to report about the home itself. However, there was a woman living in the home of whom DHS was unaware and on whom no background check had been performed. Josh had not had any positive drug screens since March 2010. During the case, he had been very supportive of the children being returned to Tara, even when she was not making progress and it did not appear feasible to reunite the children with her.

According to Blanchard, Tara had unstable housing and employment. She gave birth to another child during the case, and that child had been privately adopted. Blanchard testified that a man named Terry Jones, whom Tara initially identified as her fiancé, was hostile toward staff during a staffing and refused to submit to a drug screen. Tara later denied that Jones was her fiancé. She also initially told the Department that the two of them lived together, then later insisted that they did not. She brought two other men to visitations with the children. Tara’s visits were sporadic, with her attending four visits in the two months Uprior to August 2011. She failed to appear for visits on several occasions, causing the circuit court to order her to notify DHS regarding whether she would be able to attend.

Blanchard testified that T.M., S.M., and A.M. were doing well in their placements and would be subjected to harm if they were returned to either Tara or Randy. M.D., who was placed separately from the other children, was also doing well in her placement. According to Blanchard, M.D. had a strong bond with her foster parents, who expressed a desire to adopt her. Blanchard expressed concerns regarding Josh’s relationship with Tara, his ability to care for M.D., his lack of stability, and the recently discovered live-in girlfriend.

Amanda Thompson, a family-service worker who was assigned to the case in October 2011, testified that she had conducted home visits with both Tara and Josh but had no contact with Randy. Josh lived in a two-bedroom apartment that had a room set up for M.D. Thompson had no concerns with Josh’s housing apart from the fact that his girlfriend of four months moved in one-and-a-half weeks prior to the termination hearing. Josh had regularly attended visitation since April 16, 2011.

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Related

Norris v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.
2018 Ark. App. 571 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2018)
Hamman v. Arkansas Department of Human Services
2014 Ark. App. 295 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
423 S.W.3d 143, 2012 Ark. App. 502, 2012 WL 4128306, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 633, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wittig-v-arkansas-department-of-human-services-arkctapp-2012.