APPEAL
FROM THE WASHINGTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT [NO. 72JV-17-482]
HONORABLE STACEY ZIMMERMAN, JUDGE
Tabitha McNulty, Arkansas Public Defender Commission, for
appellant.
Andrew
Firth, Office of Chief Counsel, for appellee.
Chrestman Group, PLLC, by: Keith L. Chrestman, attorney ad
litem for minor children.
BRANDON J. HARRISON, JUDGE
Charity
Allen-Grace appeals the termination of her parental rights to
her three children-A.S., A.G.1, and A.G.2. On appeal, she
argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the
court's best-interest determination. We affirm.
I.
Background
In
February 2018, we affirmed the Washington County Circuit
Court's determination that A.S., A.G.1, and A.G.2. were
dependent-neglected. Allen-Grace v. Ark. Dep't of
Human Servs., 2018 Ark.App. 83, 542 S.W.3d 205. In April
2018, the circuit court entered a permanency-planning order.
It found that Charity had complied partially with the case
plan by maintaining contact with DHS, maintaining a safe and
clean home, and staying employed. The court, however, also
found that Charity stopped submitting to random drug screens,
failed to complete individual counseling, and was arrested
for sexually assaulting A.S.'s boyfriend, a minor.
Charity also had a previous misdemeanor-assault charge with
A.S. as the victim. The court further found that Charity
married Kenneth Shaw, a prisoner in Missouri. The court noted
that the juveniles were being cared for by relatives and
termination of parental rights was in the children's best
interest. The court ordered Charity to cooperate with DHS,
complete a psychological evaluation, abstain from illegal
drugs or alcohol, not abuse prescription drugs, submit to
random drug screens twice a month, and "demonstrate
ability to protect juveniles and keep them safe from
harm," among other things. In May 2018, the Arkansas
Department of Human Services (DHS) filed a petition to
terminate Charity's parental rights.
The
circuit court convened hearings on DHS's termination
petition on 1 August, 14 September, and 4 October 2018. The
parties presented the prior orders in the case, a court
report, A.S.'s counseling report, a court appointed
special advocate (CASA) report, a visitation log, and a
letter from Charity to the circuit court. The evidence showed
that Charity owns a house in Springdale, which a CASA worker
observed to be "clean, safe, and appropriate," that
Charity's marriage to Kenneth Shaw was annulled in June
2018, and that Charity works as an accountant for a tile
store.
After
the children were initially removed from their mother's
custody, the circuit court placed custody of A.S. with her
paternal grandparents Peter Halpern and Leslie Halpern and
custody of A.G.1 and A.G.2 with their paternal grandparents,
Joanne Grace and Albert Grace. By all accounts, the children
were doing well living with their paternal grandparents.
A.S., A.G.1, and A.G.2 had monthly sibling visits. The DHS
visitation log showed that Charity attended almost all weekly
visits with the children from 6 July 2017 to 2 October 2018.
According
to DHS's drug-screen log for Charity, she had a
"verified prescription for Xanax" and tested
positive for "BZO" on more than one occasion.
Charity failed to show up for four of the thirteen scheduled
drug tests from April to September 2018.
A.G.1
and A.G.2's therapist, Kimberly Elliott, testified that
she believed it would be detrimental to the girls' mental
health for the court to return custody of the children to
Charity. This was because of the traumas experienced by the
girls when they were with Charity. In her opinion, the girls
have a "very insecure attachment" to each other
because of the instability in their lives. Elliott diagnosed
A.G.1 with adjustment disorder with anxiety and A.G.2 with
other-specified-trauma-related disorder. She said that A.G.1
was "working out in her mind" why Charity would be
in bed all day or have slurred speech. And A.G. 2 was piecing
together that "Mom's put bad things in her body, so
her mind doesn't work the same[.]" In short, Charity
had substance-misuse issues that were apparent to her
children.
Therapist
Jessica Kitchens testified that A.S. had been diagnosed with
posttraumatic stress disorder. According to Kitchens, it
would set back A.S. "tremendously" to return to her
mother. Returning custody to Charity would be harmful to
A.S.'s mental health because she would not feel safe. In
Kitchens's view, A.S.'s living with the Halperns has
helped A.S. feel safe and has been a calm environment for
her.
Caseworker
Kari Horton testified that A.S. wanted to be adopted by the
Halperns and that she was thriving in their care. A.S.'s
father, Matthew Steed, [1] was supportive of his parents adopting
A.S. In Horton's opinion, Charity had kept DHS informed
throughout the case, had maintained stable housing and
employment, had submitted to random drug screens, had
demonstrated ...