IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 19-0870

Filed September 11, 2019

IN THE INTEREST OF B.P.,

Minor Child,

R.L., Father,

Appellant.

________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda Belcher, 

District Associate Judge. 

A father appeals the termination of his parental rights. AFFIRMED.

Daniel M. Northfield, Urbandale, for appellant father.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Anna T. Stoeffler, Assistant 

Attorney General, for appellee State.

Erin Mayfield of Youth Law Center, Des Moines, guardian ad litem for minor 

child.

Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and Greer, JJ.
2

GREER, Judge.

R.L. is the father of B.P., born in 2012. On April 4, 2016, the juvenile court 

issued a temporary order removing B.P. from the father’s care. On May 17, the 

court adjudicated B.P. a child in need of assistance. Ultimately, on December 12, 

2018, the State filed a petition to terminate the father’s parental rights. Despite 

that petition, the court declined to terminate his parental rights and instead ordered 

a permanency goal of a guardianship with B.P.’s maternal grandmother. Following

Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) conditions, the court held another 

termination hearing on April 18, 2019. The court issued an order terminating the 

father’s parental rights on May 15.1 

The father appeals the termination of his parental rights, arguing the State 

failed to make reasonable efforts toward reunification.2 In doing so, the father

waived all other issues for appeal, including the statutory grounds for termination. 

See L.N.S. v. S.W.S., 854 N.W.2d 699, 703 (Iowa 2013) (“Where a party has failed 

to present any substantive analysis or argument on an issue, the issue has been 

waived.”). Despite his arguments at the hearing, the juvenile court terminated his 

parental rights under multiple statutory grounds, including Iowa Code section 

232.116(1)(b) (2018) (allowing termination upon “clear and convincing evidence 

that the child has been abandoned or deserted”). We thus affirm the termination 

under section 232.116(1)(b). Under this section, reasonable efforts to reunify the 

parent with the child are not required. See In re A.D., No. 19-0389, 2019 WL 

 

1 The court terminated B.P.’s mother’s parental rights on July 30, 2018. The mother is not 

a party to this appeal, and her rights are not at issue.

2 We review a termination of parental rights proceeding de novo. In re L.T., 924 N.W.2d 

521, 526 (Iowa 2019). 
3

2371928, at *1 (Iowa Ct. App. June 5, 2019); see also In re C.B., 611 N.W.2d 489, 

492 (Iowa 2000) (noting other statutory grounds for termination “contain a common 

element which implicates the reasonable effort requirement”). Therefore, the State 

was not required to make reasonable efforts toward reunification before 

terminating the father’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(b).

Even if the State were required to make reasonable efforts toward 

reunification, the father “had the obligation to demand other, different or additional 

services prior to the termination hearing.” In re S.R., 600 N.W.2d 63, 65 (Iowa Ct. 

App. 1999). Thus, his failure to make such a demand waives the issue on appeal. 

Id. What is more, the father’s petition identifies no services he wished to receive, 

and we find no evidence he ever demanded other, different, or additional services.3 

Consequently, the reasonable-efforts issue is not preserved for our review. Even 

so, we note a DHS report lists numerous services offered to the family, including 

evaluation and treatment for the father’s substance-abuse and mental-health 

issues. 

Arguing DHS violated the permanency plan of a guardianship with the 

maternal grandmother, the father now asserts the juvenile court too quickly 

terminated his parental rights.

4

 Yet, at the termination hearing, the State presented 

extensive evidence of the father’s substance-abuse and mental-health issues and 

his lack of contact with B.P. since removal. To further support termination, the 

 

3

In the February 12, 2019 order, the juvenile court noted the father requested “assistance 

in rent payment” when asked about the sufficiency of services provided to him. The court 

denied his request. We find this isolated reference is insufficient to preserve the 

reasonable-efforts issue for our review. Additionally, we note that in the April 18, 2019 

hearing, the father testified he was current on rent for his home. 

4 The father’s recent relapse on drugs and alcohol impacted the termination.
4

grandmother cannot access needed medical services for B.P. as her guardian, but 

she could if B.P. were covered under her insurance, which requires she adopt B.P.

On our de novo review, we agree with the juvenile court and affirm the termination 

of the father’s parental rights.

AFFIRMED.