In re R.F.

• Docket Number: 1 CA-JV 23-0152
• Decision Date: 28 December 2023
• Parties: IN RE TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO R.F., R.F., and J.F.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

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IN RE TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AS TO R.F., R.F., and J.F.

No. 1 CA-JV 23-0152

Court of Appeals of Arizona, First Division

December 28, 2023

NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

Appeal from the Superior Court in Mohave County No. S8015JD202200096 The Honorable Aaron Michael Demke, Judge Pro Tempore

AFFIRMED.

The Law Offices of Robert Casey, Robert Ian Casey Counsel for Appellant

Arizona Attorney General's Office, Autumn Spritzer Counsel for Appellee

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Judge Cynthia J. Bailey delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge James B. Morse Jr. and Judge Brian Y. Furuya joined.

MEMORANDUM DECISION

BAILEY, Judge:

¶1 Dena K. ("Mother") appeals the termination of her parental rights to R.F., R.F., and J.F. ("the children"). We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY^[1]

¶2 Mother is the biological parent of twins R.F. and R.F., born in 2016, and J.F., born in 2021. In June 2022, the Department of Child Safety ("DCS") received a report of "a significant domestic violence history" between Mother and the children's father ("Father").^[2] DCS learned Mother had a history of substance abuse, and J.F. was born substance-exposed in Arizona. It also learned California child protection had removed the twins from Mother's care in 2016 because Mother overdosed on methamphetamine and heroin and the parents were selling drugs out of their home.

¶3 Mother had been evicted from her transitional housing for allowing Father around her and the children, in violation of her housing agreement. After its investigation, DCS reported that Father is "extremely dangerous, has a significant criminal history and is abusing methamphetamine and heroin," and Mother is "minimizing the concerns of domestic violence."

¶4 DCS removed the children from Mother's care and filed for dependency, alleging neglect, exposure to domestic violence, and substance abuse. Mother did not appear at her July 2022 initial dependency hearing, and the superior court treated her failure to appear as an admission to the dependency allegations. The court found the children dependent

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because Mother exposed the children to domestic violence and was unwilling or unable to provide effective parental care and a safe and stable home. The court also found neglect due to substance abuse, stating Mother "minimizes her substance use and the parents have prior history with child protection in California due to substance abuse and the children were removed."

¶5 In support of the family reunification plan, DCS offered services to Mother, including substance abuse treatment, drug testing, parenting classes, case management, supervised visitation, and transportation. But she participated in services only sporadically. In July 2022, Mother tested positive for methamphetamine and THC and refused a hair follicle test. She did not participate in substance testing again until early 2023.

¶6 Mother did not appear at her first meeting with DCS workers regarding her case in September 2022, despite multiple attempts by DCS to contact her. She also failed to appear at hearings between October and December 2022. Having received no response from Mother since August, Mother's counsel withdrew from representation in November 2022. Mother finally made an appearance in February 2023 at a supplemental permanency hearing.

¶7 DCS moved to terminate Mother's parental rights on the grounds of chronic substance abuse and six months out-of-home placement, contending Mother tested positive for methamphetamine at the beginning of the case and, since that time, failed to participate in rehabilitative or reunification services. The court set an initial termination hearing, and a few days later, Mother began to comply intermittently with the scheduled substance testing. From February to April 2023, Mother repeatedly tested positive for THC, and she tested positive for fentanyl and methamphetamine in April.

¶8 At the end of a contested termination trial in June 2023, the superior court granted DCS's motion and terminated Mother's parental rights on both alleged grounds. The court found that although Mother appeared to be doing well at the time of trial, "there's been at least nine months where the evidence indicates otherwise," she has "substantially neglected or willfully refused to remedy the circumstances that caused her children to be in out-of-home placement," and she had not...