IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 16-1205

Filed September 14, 2016

IN THE INTEREST OF T.G.,

Minor child,

V.G., Mother,

Appellant.

________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Louise M. Jacobs, 

District Associate Judge.

A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, born in 

2013. AFFIRMED.

Cole J. Mayer of Masterson, Bottenberg & Eichorn, L.L.P., Waukee, for 

appellant mother.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kathrine S. Miller-Todd, Assistant 

Attorney General, for appellee State.

Nicole Garbis Nolan of Youth Law Center, Des Moines, guardian ad litem 

for minor child.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.
2

VAITHESWARAN, Judge.

A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, born in 

2013. She argues (I) the district court should have granted her a six-month 

extension to work towards reunification, (II) termination was not in the child’s best 

interests, and (III) the court should have found an exception to termination based 

on the parent-child bond and the child’s placement with the maternal 

grandmother. 

I. Iowa Code section 232.104(2)(b) (2015) allows a court to grant a parent a

six-month extension if it appears “the need for removal of the child from the 

child’s home will no longer exist at the end of the additional six-month period.” 

The mother asserts she should have been afforded an extension because she 

was attending visits, attempting to work with the child’s therapist and her own 

therapist, and trying to obtain stable housing. On our de novo review, we are not 

persuaded by this assertion.

The mother came to the attention of the department of human services 

following a high-speed chase of a vehicle in which she was riding with her young 

child, whom she failed to place in a car seat. The mother was arrested on an 

outstanding warrant and was jailed for violating her probation from a theft 

conviction. The child was placed with relatives. On her release from jail a month 

later, the mother visited the child and participated in therapy. However, three 

months after the car chase, she disappeared. 

The mother was rearrested a month later and remained in jail for the 

ensuing four months. Following her second release, she participated in two 

supervised visits with the child but only sporadically attended twice-weekly visits 
3

after that point. The child’s therapist offered the mother joint therapy with her 

child. According to a department report, the mother “did not proceed with this 

service.” She also failed to engage with her own therapist. At the termination 

hearing, she acknowledged she had not seen the therapist for a month and had 

“only met with her three times” during the proceedings. As for the mother’s living 

situation, she testified she was staying with friends. When asked about her plan 

to move forward on housing, she responded, “Well, yesterday I went and picked 

up some applications for some apartments.” Because the mother failed to avail 

herself of the services that were provided following the child’s removal, there was 

little reason to believe she would take advantage of these services during a sixmonth extension period. 

II. Termination of parental rights must be in the best interests of the child. 

See In re P.L., 778 N.W.2d 33, 39 (Iowa 2010). The mother had yet to obtain 

housing, declined to participate in therapy, and failed to foster the bond she 

shared with the child. The service provider who supervised visits expressed 

concern about what the child “was going through with the missed visits.” She 

opined the mother was not in a position to provide consistency, support, and a 

nurturing environment for the child. Termination was in the child’s best interests.

III. The mother contends the district court should have invoked statutory 

exceptions to termination. See Iowa Code § 232.116(3); P.L., 778 N.W.2d at 41. 

For the reasons discussed above, we disagree.

We affirm the mother’s termination of her parental rights to the child.

AFFIRMED.