SUMMARY: Evidence was sufficient to support a father’s termination of parental rights when the father was incarcerated for all of the child’s life and had made no progress toward reunification.
Kelly, father of Adlai (DOB 7/2007), was incarcerated for robbery and use of a weapon to commit a felony several weeks before Adlai’s birth and remained incarcerated throughout the pendency of the case. In June 2010, Adlai was removed from his mother’s home; the State filed a petition alleging Kelly failed to provide Adlai with safe and stable housing and proper parental care. Kelly admitted the allegations and Adlai was adjudicated in November 2010. The State subsequently filed a petition to terminate Kelly’s parental rights to Adlai. At the termination hearing in July 2012, evidence was introduced to demonstrate that Kelly had been unable to participate in the rehabilitation plan ordered by the court due to his incarceration. Kelly testified that he had participated in parenting and domestic violence classes and had received treatment for drug abuse. Kelly also testified that he had recently been granted parole and would be released once he found secure housing. Kelly’s contact with Adlai was limited to several monthly telephone calls that ceased when Kelly was placed on administrative confinement within the prison. During the phone calls, Adlai did refer to Kelly as dad, but was often uninterested in speaking with Kelly. The juvenile court terminated Kelly’s parental rights to Adlai.
The Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed the termination. Kelly had been incarcerated since before Adlai’s birth, and due to this incarceration was unable to progress toward reunification or to establish a bond with Adlai. In addition, though Kelly testified he was recently granted parole, his future was uncertain. Though it was clear that Kelly loves Adlai and desires to parent him, Kelly was not ready to do so and it was unclear whether he would ever be able to do so in the future. Termination of Kelly’s parental rights was thus in Adlai’s best interests.