SUMMARY: The court upheld the order terminating a mother’s parental rights after she failed to make significant progress with court requirements after services offered to the family were unsuccessful, and it was deemed that the risk factors present at the time of removal were still present at the time of trial.
The trial court properly found that the mother has substantially and continuously or repeatedly neglected and refused to give her children necessary parental care and protection. The children were removed from their mother’s home because “they were at risk for harm due to [her] drug problem.” She refused to seek court-ordered treatment for drug addiction, was very inconsistent with visitation, was discharged from counseling for lack of attendance, and failed to provide DHHS with proof of employment or housing. Thus, there was a two year pattern of illegal drug use and dependence established in the record.
The caseworker testified that “she had made active efforts to provide services to [mother and child] in order to prevent the breakup of…[the] family and that such services were unsuccessful.” The services offered to the child included: respite care, clothing vouchers, Christmas and birthday money, individual therapy, community treatment aid, and agency- and emergency-based care. The services offered to the mother included: drug screens, medical aid, chemical dependency treatment, psychological and psychiatric treatment, and individual therapy, in addition to information on how to obtain government aid. So, the mother’s claim that juvenile court erred in finding that the State had made active efforts to provide remedial services was without merit.
Termination was in the best interests of the children because the risk factors that led to their removal still existed at the time of trial. The mother did not have safe and adequate housing, nor a full time job, she provided no evidence that she had completed individual therapy or was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and she was still failing to consistently submit to random drug tests. Testimony also indicated the children’s need for permanency.