J.L.H., In Interest of
| Decision Date | 09 November 1979 |
| Citation | 326 N.W.2d 284 |
| Parties | In the Interest of J.L.H., d.o.b |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Gregory C. Nicholas of Beck, Pappajohn, Shriver & Stephenson, Mason City, for appellants.
Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., Brent Hege, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Carlynn D. Reich, Asst. Cerro Gordo County Atty., for appellee.
Considered by LeGRAND, P.J., and UHLENHOPP, HARRIS, McCORMICK, and McGIVERIN, JJ.
The parents appeal from a decree terminating the parent-child relationship between them and their two-year-old son James. They contend the court erred because the petition was filed prematurely and because the State did not sustain its burden of proof. We find no merit in either contention and therefore affirm.
James was born on November 9, 1979. It soon developed that his parents were not providing him with the most basic care. His mother could not or would not feed him properly, establish a routine for him, supervise him, and take him for necessary medical attention. Despite assistance from the department of social services, conditions did not improve. After a medical examination from which it was determined the baby was not developing properly, a proceeding was initiated under section 232.96, Iowa Code (1979), which resulted in an adjudication that he was a child in need of assistance. He was placed in the custody of the department pursuant to section 232.102 by dispositional order entered on January 22, 1981.
The child was placed in foster care, and the department, with the help of a private agency, undertook an extensive and comprehensive effort to educate and train the parents to care for the child. The child was returned to the parents for periodic visits which demonstrated no improvement in their ability to care for him. Finally, on January 13, 1982, a petition for termination of parental rights was filed under the authority of section 232.116(5).
The case was tried on February 4, 1982, and the court entered its decree terminating parental rights on February 8, 1982. The ground of termination was the provision in section 232.116(5) which permits termination when the court finds:
a. The child has been adjudicated a child in need of assistance pursuant to section 232.96; and
b. The custody of the child has been transferred from his or her parents for placement pursuant to section 232.102 for at least twelve months; and
c. There is clear and convincing evidence that the child cannot be returned to the custody of his or her parents as provided in section 232.102.
The parents assert the court could not find the second factual element because the petition was filed nine days before the end of the twelve-month "rehabilitation period." They also attack the sufficiency of the evidence as a whole.
I. The twelve-month period. The twelve-month period prescribed in subsection (b) is intended to give parents "an opportunity to remedy the conditions which originally led the court to place custody of the child outside the...
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In the Interest of N.J., No. 6-052/05-2049 (IA 3/15/2006)
...that the twelve-month period [of removal necessary for termination] has passed, that is sufficient." (emphasis added)); In re J.L.H., 326 N.W.2d 284, 286 (Iowa 1982) (same). Adrie'l had not yet become four years of age at the conclusion of the termination hearing and we thus agree with Mich......
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In Interest of T.D., No. 7-418/07-0485 (Iowa App. 7/25/2007)
...period expired, the juvenile court did not terminate W.L.C.'s parental rights until after the period expired. See In re J.L.H., 326 N.W.2d 284, 285-86 (Iowa 1982). Finally, the juvenile court admonished W.L.C. and her attorney that, if they chose to leave based on the perceived unfairness o......
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In the Interest of G.Y., No. 6-050/05-1234 (IA 3/1/2006)
...232.116(1)(f)) and continue to run until the termination hearing. In re A.M., 419 N.W.2d 723, 725 (Iowa 1988) (citing In re J.L.H., 326 N.W.2d 284, 286 (Iowa 1982)). If the evidence at hearing shows that the twelve-month period has passed, that is sufficient. A.M., 419 N.W.2d at 725. There ......
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In re A.R.
...termination to exist at the time the petition is filed." In re D.M.J., 780 N.W.2d 243, 245 (Iowa Ct. App. 2010); see also In re J.L.H., 326 N.W.2d 284, 286 (Iowa 1982). "The law simply requires the court to 'find[ ] that all of thefollowing have occurred' before issuing its termination orde......