In the Interest of A.M. and D.M., Minor Children, R.K., Father ( 2016 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 15-1998
Filed March 23, 2016
IN THE INTEREST OF A.M. AND D.M.,
Minor Children,
R.K., Father,
Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Susan Cox, District
Associate Judge.
The father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his children,
A.M. and D.M. AFFIRMED.
Shireen L. Carter of Shireen Carter Law Office, P.L.C., Clive, for appellant
father.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee State.
Karl Wolle of the Juvenile Public Defender’s Office, Des Moines, for minor
children.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Potterfield, JJ.
2
VOGEL, Judge.
The father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his two
children, A.M. and D.M. He asserts the court improperly concluded termination
was in the children’s best interests and claims that the bond between the father
and the children should preclude termination. We conclude that, because the
father has not seen the children since August 2013, and currently is incarcerated
in a federal prison, termination is in the children’s best interests. We further
conclude there remain no impediments to termination. Therefore, we affirm the
order of the district court.1
A.M., born 2006, and D.M., born 2008, came to the attention of the Iowa
Department of Human Services in late summer 2014, as the father was
incarcerated on a methamphetamine trafficking conviction, and the mother was
suspected of using illegal substances while caring for the children. A later drug
screen confirmed this suspicion. The children were removed from the home in
September 2014 and have remained in foster placement throughout the
pendency of these proceedings.
The State petitioned for termination of parental rights in September 2015,
and the matter came on for hearing on November 12, 2015. The district court
found clear and convincing evidence to terminate the father’s parental rights
pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e) and (f) (2015). The father appeals.
We review termination of parental rights proceedings de novo. In re A.B.,
815 N.W.2d 764, 773 (Iowa 2012). Weight is given to the juvenile court’s factual
1
The mother’s appeal was dismissed by the supreme court as untimely.
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findings, especially when considering the credibility of witnesses, but we are not
bound by those findings. Id.In this case, the father does not challenge the statutory grounds for
termination but asserts termination is not in the children’s best interests under
Iowa Code section 232.116(2). The father claims his tentative release date from
federal prison in Arkansas is in May 2017. The record clearly reveals the
children have suffered greatly because of the poor choices made by both
parents. The father’s extensive criminal history and current incarceration have
left the children with no stability in their lives, other than what has been provided
to them since their current foster home placement. We agree with the district
court permanency and stability are essential for the children and, therefore,
termination is in their best interests. See In re J.E., 723 N.W.2d 793, 802 (Iowa
2006) (Cady, J., concurring specially).
We also find no indicators that would preclude termination under Iowa
Code section 232.116(3). While the father has sent the children a few letters
during his lengthy incarceration, he has had no face-to-face contact with them
since August 2013. To claim any sort of bond exists that would preclude
termination was not credible to the district court, nor to us on appeal.
We therefore affirm the district court’s termination of the father’s parental
rights.
AFFIRMED.