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ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS

DIVISION IV 

No. CV-15-690

NATALIE CARROLL

APPELLANT

V.

ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF 

HUMAN SERVICES AND MINOR 

CHILDREN

APPELLEES 

Opinion Delivered January 6, 2016

APPEAL FROM THE PULASKI 

COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, 

TENTH DIVISION 

[NO. JN2013-1345] 

HONORABLE JOYCE WILLIAMS 

WARREN, JUDGE

AFFIRMED; MOTION TO 

WITHDRAW GRANTED 

BRANDON J. HARRISON, Judge

Natalie Carroll appeals the Pulaski County Circuit Court’s decision to terminate her 

parental rights to her children Z.C., N.C., R.P.1, and R.P.2. Carroll’s counsel has filed a 

motion to withdraw and a no-merit brief pursuant to our rules and caselaw, stating that 

there are no meritorious grounds to support an appeal. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9 (2015); LinkerFlores v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004). Our court clerk 

mailed a certified copy of counsel’s motion and brief to Carroll’s last-known address

informing her of her right to file pro se points for reversal, and Carroll has filed pro se points. 

The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) has responded to Carroll’s pro se
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points pursuant to Rule 6-9(i)(5). We affirm the court’s decision to terminate Carroll’s 

parental rights to her four children and grant counsel’s motion to withdraw.

We review termination of parental rights cases de novo. Cheney v. Ark. Dep’t of 

Human Servs., 2012 Ark. App. 209, 396 S.W.3d 272. An order terminating parental rights 

must be based upon a finding by clear and convincing evidence that the termination is in 

the children’s best interest. Id. The circuit court must consider the likelihood that the 

children will be adopted if the parent’s rights are terminated and the potential harm that 

could be caused if the children are returned to a parent. Harper v. Ark. Dep’t of Human 

Servs., 2011 Ark. App. 280, 378 S.W.3d 884. The circuit court must also find that one of 

the grounds stated in the termination statute is satisfied. Id. Clear and convincing evidence 

is that degree of proof that will produce in the fact-finder a firm conviction that the 

allegation has been established. Pratt v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2012 Ark. App. 399, 

413 S.W.3d 261. When the burden of proving a disputed fact is by clear and convincing 

evidence, we ask whether the circuit court’s finding on the disputed fact is clearly erroneous. 

Id. A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is evidence to support it, we are left 

with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Id. 

In dependency-neglect cases, if, after studying the record and researching the law, 

appellant’s counsel determines that the appellant has no meritorious basis for appeal, then 

counsel may file a no-merit petition and move to withdraw. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9(i)(1). 

The petition must include an argument section that lists all adverse rulings that the parent 

received at the circuit court level and explain why each adverse ruling is not a meritorious 

ground for reversal. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9(i)(1)(A). The petition must also include an 
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abstract and addendum containing all rulings adverse to the appealing parent that were made 

during the hearing from which the order on appeal arose. Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 6-9(i)(1)(B).

In this case, there were no adverse rulings apart from the circuit court’s decision to 

terminate Carroll’s parental rights. Her attorney argues that there would be no merit in 

challenging the sufficiency of the statutory grounds or the court’s best-interest finding. We 

agree. 

The circuit court terminated Carroll’s rights on three of the statutory grounds that 

DHS alleged against her—the “failure to remedy” ground, the “other factors arising” 

ground, and the “aggravated circumstances” ground. We need not address all grounds 

because DHS only had to prove one statutory ground to support a termination, and it did 

so. The statutory ground on which we affirm the termination order is the “other factors” 

ground, which states: 

[O]ther factors or issues arose subsequent to the filing of the original petition 

for dependency-neglect that demonstrate that placement of the juvenile in the 

custody of the parent is contrary to the juvenile’s health, safety, or welfare and 

that, despite the offer of appropriate family services, the parent has manifested 

the incapacity or indifference to remedy the subsequent issues or factors or 

rehabilitate the parent’s circumstances that prevent the placement of the 

juvenile in the custody of the parent.

Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B)(vii)(a) (Supp. 2015).

The circuit court decided to terminate Carroll’s parental rights on this statutory 

ground because of Carroll’s failure to complete court-ordered counseling and because of 

her noncompliance with taking the medication provided to her for mental-health issues. At 

the time of termination, the children had been out of Carroll’s custody for twenty-one 

months. The children were removed when Carroll was arrested for child endangerment; 
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she had left three of the children unattended outside a grocery store for at least forty-five

minutes. Although Carroll was partially compliant with the case plan and used some of the 

appropriate family services DHS offered to her, she was not able to demonstrate safe and 

effective parenting during visits with the children, several of whom have special needs. Her 

therapist and a forensic psychologist testified that Carroll’s lack of insight, unwillingness to 

learn and cooperate, failure to take her prescription medication, and failure to complete the 

court-ordered counseling showed that Carroll was unwilling or unable to improve her 

ability to parent her children effectively. Carroll’s counsel is correct that what matters is 

whether the case plan achieved the intended result of making the parent capable of caring 

for her children, which in this case, it did not. See Cole v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2012 

Ark. App. 203, 394 S.W.3d 318. Taken as a whole, there is clear and convincing evidence 

on this record to support the court’s termination under the “other factors” ground. 

The court’s finding that it was in the children’s best interest for Carroll’s rights to be 

terminated is also sufficiently supported by the record. An adoption specialist testified that 

there were fifty-eight families willing to adopt a sibling group like Z.C., N.C., R.P.1, and 

R.P.2. There is also sufficient evidence to support the court’s finding that “[t]he children 

have special needs which include taking daily medication and attending therapy. The 

mother is unable to care for their special needs. Therefore, placement of the children in the 

mother’s custody is contrary to the juveniles’ health, safety, and welfare.” The witness 

testimony, CASA reports, and psychological evaluations found in this record support the 

circuit court’s conclusion that Carroll was not able to overcome her limitations to properly 
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care for her children and that her children would be at risk of harm if returned to her 

custody. See Gossett v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2010 Ark. App. 240, 374 S.W.3d 205. 

In Carroll’s pro se points, she asserts that while she has made mistakes and was angry 

when the children were removed, she loves them and has been there for them when Z.C. 

was hospitalized for six months with seizures and when N.C. was sick. Carroll submits that 

her children need to be with her. But as we have previously stated, the circuit court’s 

decision to terminate Carroll’s parental rights was not clearly erroneous based on the 

evidence that was before the court. We therefore conclude that her pro se points provide 

no grounds for reversal. 

After reviewing the record and counsel’s brief, we agree with counsel that an appeal 

from the circuit court’s decision to terminate Carroll’s parental rights would be wholly 

without merit. Because Carroll’s counsel has adequately addressed the sufficiency of the 

evidence in the no-merit brief and has complied with the requirements of Linker-Flores and 

this court’s rules, we affirm the court’s termination order and grant the motion to withdraw.

Affirmed; motion to withdraw granted. 

KINARD and HOOFMAN, JJ., agree. 

Dusti Standridge, for appellant. 

No response.