Opinion
No. 4-375 / 04-0684.
June 23, 2004.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, James A. Weaver, District Associate Judge.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children. AFFIRMED.
Esther Dean, Muscatine, for appellant-mother.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Tabitha Gardner, Assistant Attorney General, Gary Allison, County Attorney, and Korie Shippee, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Christine Dalton, Muscatine, for the father.
Douglas Johnston, Muscatine, guardian ad litem for the children.
Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Zimmer and Eisenhauer, JJ.
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children. The termination was pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2003). She contends the State failed to prove the grounds for termination by clear and convincing evidence. We review her claim de novo. In re C.H., 652 N.W.2d 144, 147 (Iowa 2002).
Termination under section 232.116(1)(f) is proper where:
(1) The child is four years of age or older.
(2) The child has been adjudicated a child in need of assistance pursuant to section 232.96.
(3) The child has been removed from the physical custody of the child's parents for at least twelve of the last eighteen months, or for the last twelve consecutive months and any trial period at home has been less than thirty days.
(4) There is clear and convincing evidence that at the present time the child cannot be returned to the custody of the child's parents as provided in section 232.102.
Iowa Code § 232.116(1)(f). There is no dispute the first three elements of this section have been proven. Instead, the mother contends there is not clear and convincing evidence that the children cannot be returned to her care.
We conclude the children cannot be retuned to their mother's care without the risk of further harm. The children were removed from her care in March 2002 due to her chronic substance abuse and chronic domestic violence in the home. The mother progressed with substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, and family services. Plans were made to return the children to her custody by June 2003. However, the mother allowed the father to have contact with the children in violation of a protective order. The mother also physically abused B.J. The children were not retuned to her care, and in November 2003, the mother returned to substance abuse. At the time of termination, the mother remained in a relationship with a man who was abusive toward her children and used drugs in her home.
The mother has received family-centered services for five of the last seven years. However, she has not improved her care of the children sufficiently to appropriately parent her children. The mother is very likely to continue her substance abuse and abusive relationships if her children are returned to her care. See In re T.B., 604 N.W.2d 660, 662 (Iowa 2000) (holding parents' past actions are evidence of the future quality of their care). Additionally, her decision to choose her paramour over her children's interests prevents her from regaining custody of her children. Accordingly, termination is appropriate under section 232.116(1)(f). We affirm.