Shelton v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs.
| Decision Date | 12 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. CV-21-12,CV-21-12 |
| Citation | 625 S.W.3d 729,2021 Ark. App. 232 |
| Court | Arkansas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Heather SHELTON, Appellant v. ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES and Minor Child, Appellees |
Leah Lanford, Arkansas Commission for Parent Counsel, for appellant.
Andrew Firth, Ark. Dep't of Human Services, Office of Chief Counsel, for appellee.
Dana McClain, Little Rock, attorney ad litem for minor child.
Heather Shelton appeals the order of the Union County Circuit Court terminating her parental rights to her son, LD. On appeal, Shelton argues that the circuit court erred in finding that termination was in LD's best interest. We affirm.
Eighteen-month-old LD was taken into custody by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) on July 17, 2019. Both Shelton and LD's father, James Dunn, were arrested on that date, and Shelton left LD in the care of his maternal grandmother, Deanna Rogers. During a health and safety assessment of Rogers's home, Rogers stated that she could not keep LD, and she admitted smoking THC and taking Valium
without a prescription. Shelton disclosed to caseworkers that LD had been present for several domestic-violence incidents between her and Dunn with the most recent occurring a few days earlier. Shelton thought that Dunn had broken her ribs in a physical assault a month earlier.
A protective-services case had been open for more than a year after both Shelton and LD tested positive for methamphetamine at his birth. Numerous attempts to drug screen Shelton in the protective-services case were unsuccessful because Shelton had failed to produce a urine specimen. In June 2019, she admitted that she had been using methamphetamine occasionally. Shelton was released from police custody the same day as her arrest, but due to her continued drug use and domestic violence, DHS believed LD's health and safety would be at risk by returning him to Shelton's custody.
Following an August 2019 adjudication hearing, LD was adjudicated dependent-neglected due to domestic violence and Shelton's admitted drug use. The court ordered that upon being requested to submit to a random drug screen, the parents would have forty-five minutes to produce a sample; if no sample was provided within the allotted time period, the court would consider it a positive drug screen. Review hearings were held in December 2019 and April 2020 at which the court heard evidence that Shelton had not complied with the case plan and court orders. She had failed to submit to drug screens, had been incarcerated, and lacked suitable housing. A permanency-planning hearing was held on July 6, 2020, wherein the goal was changed to adoption. The court found that Shelton had not maintained consistent contact with DHS, participated in the case plan, or followed court orders. The parents had not addressed the issues that caused removal, and they lacked a suitable home. Shelton was ordered to complete a hair-follicle test following the hearing, and Dunn was ordered to complete a hair-follicle test by noon the next day.
The termination hearing was held on September 25. Mydeana Bridges, a Department of Children and Family Services supervisor, testified that after LD had been removed, Shelton and Dunn continued their pattern of failing to provide urine samples for drug testing. Bridges said that Shelton's issues with submitting to drug screens had improved somewhat since the permanency-planning hearing on July 6, but she had failed to report for drug screens requested on July 16 and August 6 after stating that she would come in. Furthermore, Shelton tested positive for oxycodone
on August 4, and Bridges did not have proof that Shelton had a prescription for this drug. Shelton tested negative on the other drug screens she had submitted to since July. Dunn had tested positive for methamphetamine on September 9.
Shelton did not submit to the hair-follicle test that the court ordered her to complete on July 6. She submitted to the test on July 22 after Bridges had warned her that the court could hold her in contempt, and she tested negative. Bridges said that DHS had been trying to obtain a hair-follicle test from Shelton prior to the court's ordering the test, and Shelton had been warned not to dye her hair before submitting to the test. Despite having been told not to, Bridges said that Shelton had dyed her hair before taking the test. Dunn did not report for his test as ordered, was later told that he did not have enough hair to test, and had failed to return for a second attempt.
Bridges testified that on the day LD was taken into custody, July 17, 2019, Shelton was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, and she later pleaded guilty to that charge. She was arrested again in August 2019 and was incarcerated until October 2019. Shelton was incarcerated again in November 2019 and released February 5, 2020. Stable housing had been a problem prior to LD's removal, but the parents were currently residing in a suitable home. However, they planned to move into a trailer on property they owned after making some repairs to the trailer. Bridges said that since the last court hearing, Shelton had complied with the order to participate in individual counseling, but Dunn had gone to only one appointment. Bridges said that no additional services could be offered to achieve reunification because services had been offered since 2018, and the parents were still unable to progress to unsupervised visitation. When questioned about the potential harm of returning LD, Bridges cited the parents’ noncompliance with the case plan and court orders and the fact that their continued drug use was "unknown." An adoption specialist testified that there were no barriers to adoption for LD.
Shelton testified that she had been working hard since the last court date to correct her mistakes. She had been employed since late June, and since the last court hearing, she had been going to counseling regularly and submitting to drug screens. She said that she had been participating in a recovery program at her church as well as other church activities; had recently had her driver's license reinstated; had bought a vehicle; and had bought a piece of property they planned to move to after repairing their trailer. Shelton said that the delay in getting her hair-follicle test was because she wanted to speak to her attorney first. She said that she had dyed her hair before the court hearing in which she was ordered to do the test. Shelton said that she understood that it was a problem if Dunn was using drugs even if she was not. Dunn denied that he has a drug problem, said that he had tested negative three days before the hearing, and said that he had been attending a church since July and participating in its recovery program.
Susan Tolin, the CASA volunteer for the case, testified that she had not submitted a full report because she lacked information regarding the parents’ status and updates on their drug testing. However, after hearing the evidence at the hearing, she testified that she did not feel it was in LD's best interest to be...
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