No. 4-431 / 04-0744.Court of Appeals of Iowa.
July 14, 2004.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Constance Cohen, Associate Juvenile Judge.
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his son. AFFIRMED.
Cory Gourley, West Des Moines, for appellant.
Thomas Miller, Attorney General, Kathrine Miller-Todd, Assistant Attorney General, John Sarcone, County Attorney, and Olu Salami, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee-State.
Michael Bandstra, Des Moines, guardian ad litem for minor child.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Hecht and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
HECHT, J.
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his son. We affirm.
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
Allen, born November 10, 1988, was removed from the care of his parents, Tim and Teri, in June 2001, because Allen was demonstrating sexually aggressive behavior towards his siblings. Allen was adjudicated a child in need of assistance (CINA) in August 2001 and was eventually placed in the home of foster parents Cheryl and Tom.
Tim was offered and utilized services including counseling, domestic abuse intervention classes, drug and alcohol abuse programs, parenting skills classes, and financial management classes. However, the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the juvenile court continued to have strong reservations about Tim’s ability to parent Allen. Although Tim was allowed unsupervised visits with Allen at different times, during the unsupervised visits, Tim consistently engaged in behavior harmful to Allen during visitations. Most critically, Tim continued to exhibit assaultive behavior in the presence of his children.
Allen is mildly mentally retarded and is speech and hearing impaired. Consequently he has difficulty socializing and spends most of his time at school in special education classrooms. Since Allen has lived with his foster parents, he has become involved in football. He reportedly does well in football, and the sport provides a valuable opportunity for Allen to excel and socialize. In October 2002, Allen was scheduled to visit his father in Hendrick, several hours from Allen’s foster home in Des Moines. Allen’s therapists and DHS caseworker informed Tim that he needed to return Allen in time for his final football game and banquet. Despite the clear instructions and the importance of the event to Allen, Tim failed to bring Allen back in time for the game. Allen was extremely disappointed.
Tim has not seen Allen since that visit in October 2002. Because Tim had threatened and harassed Allen’s foster parents on the phone, Tim has not been permitted to call the residence. A supervised visit was scheduled for May of 2003, but Tim failed to show up. Tim sent Allen a birthday card in December 2003, about a month after Allen’s birthday.
Allen’s guardian ad litem filed a petition to terminate parental rights, and a hearing was held on March 23, 2004. Although Allen did not appear in court, his answers to interrogatories were admitted. In the interrogatory answers, fifteen-year-old Allen stated that he did not want a relationship with his father and that he wanted his father’s parental rights terminated so that he could be adopted by Tom and Cheryl. The juvenile court terminated Tim’s parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code sections 232.116(e) and (f) (2003). Tim appeals.
II. Standard of Review.
We review termination orders de novo. In re R.F.,471 N.W.2d 821, 824 (Iowa 1991). Our primary concern is the best interests of the child. In re C.B.,611 N.W.2d 489, 492 (Iowa 2000). While the district court terminated the parental rights on more than one statutory ground, we will affirm if at least one ground has been proven by clear and convincing evidence. In re A.J.,553 N.W.2d 909, 911 (Iowa Ct.App. 1996).
III. Discussion.
Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e) provides that parental rights may be terminated if (1) the child has been adjudicated CINA; (2) the child has been removed from the parent’s custody for at least six months; and (3) there is clear and convincing evidence that the parent has not maintained significant and meaningful contact with the child during the previous six consecutive months and has made no reasonable efforts to resume care of the child.
The record is clear that Tim has not seen Allen since October 2002, nearly a year and half before the termination hearing. Tim testified that, upon the recommendation of Allen’s caseworker, he attempted to secure supervised visitation through Generations. Unfortunately, Generations was not able to provide the needed supervision, and Tim blames DHS for his inability to visit Allen. However, the record indicates that, despite learning that Generations would not be able to provide supervision in December 2003, Tim made no further efforts to arrange visitation. Thus, Tim’s contact with Allen during the six months preceding the termination hearing consists of one late birthday card and some Christmas gifts. Although Tim testified that his children are his first priority, his actions do not support his assertion. After our de novo review of the record, we find the State has proven by clear and convincing evidence that Tim has not maintained significant and meaningful contact with Allen nor made reasonable efforts to resume care of Allen. Accordingly, we conclude the juvenile court properly terminated Tim’s parental rights pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e).
Because we have found clear and convincing evidence supporting the termination of Tim’s parental rights under section 232.116(1)(e), we do not need to determine if substantial evidence supported termination under section 232.116(1)(f).
AFFIRMED.