Opinion ID: 2348513
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Posey's Points on Appeal

Text: Posey raises three pro se arguments on appeal: (1) He was unable to comply with the visitation because he moved out of state to find work; (2) he was unable to complete his psychological evaluation, parenting classes, and drug and alcohol assessment because ADHHS never supplied the proper funds; and (3) his representation by counsel was inadequate. For his first point of error, Posey asserts that he was unable to visit his children while he was out of prison because he was experiencing financial problems and had to leave the state for work. In Mayfield v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., supra , the court of appeals affirmed the decision that a mother willfully failed to maintain contact with her child, even when she moved out of state to seek financial help from family. See Mayfield v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., 88 Ark. App. at 336-41, 198 S.W.3d at 543-46. Moreover, it was for the circuit court to determine whether Posey gave credible reasons for not complying with court-ordered visitation. See Lewis v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., supra . For his second point, Posey asserts that ADHHS's failure to provide appropriate funds prevented his completion of the services in his case plan. This argument is contrary to the evidence presented at the termination hearing. At the hearing, Posey never stated that he could not complete the parenting classes or psychological evaluation due to a lack of funds. Instead, he admitted that he missed his initial appointment for the psychological evaluation and that another evaluation and the parenting classes were never scheduled. Although ADHHS initially did not obtain funding for Posey's drug and alcohol evaluation, ADHHS did acquire the funds while Posey was out of prison and began trying to contact him in December 2005 by sending letters to the address he gave the department. Again, Posey's argument hinges on his credibility as a witness, and when his testimony contradicted that given by the ADHHS representatives, the circuit court judge was entitled to believe whichever witnesses she found more credible. See Lewis v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., supra . Because we give great deference to the circuit court on credibility issues, we do not find error here. Finally, Posey argues that his counsel, Therese Free, was inadequate because (1) she wanted him to voluntarily surrender his parental rights; and (2) she did not try to arrange ADHHS services and set up appointments for him. This court has compared a civil appellant's right to counsel in a termination proceeding to that of a criminal defendant's right to counsel. See Linker-Flores v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs., 359 Ark. 131, 194 S.W.3d 739 (2004). In order to prove ineffective assistance of counsel, a criminal defendant must prove prejudice that resulted to him from counsel's actions. See Scott v. State, 351 Ark. 619, 96 S.W.3d 732 (2004). Posey has made no showing of prejudice here. Although Posey alleges that his counsel was inadequate because she did not arrange for ADHHS services, the evidence reveals that several ADHHS services were offered to Posey and it was his own lack of cooperation with ADHHS that caused his failure to complete the services. [3] Throughout the termination hearing, Ms. Free continually asserted Posey's goal of reunification with his children and requested more time for him to complete that goal. Moreover, a review of the hearing transcript reveals that during her questioning of Posey and the ADHHS witnesses, Ms. Free repeatedly attempted to bolster Posey's case. Accordingly, we cannot conclude that Posey's counsel was deficient. For all of the reasons stated above, we find no error in the circuit court's decision to terminate Posey's parental rights to J.P., Jr., and J.P. Accordingly, we affirm the circuit court's decision and grant Ms. Free's motion to withdraw as counsel. Affirmed.