Court Opinion

ID: 9720357
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:27:56.226426+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:16.701746
License: Public Domain

SACKETT, Judge
(dissenting).
I dissent. I would order the child permanently be placed with her paternal grandmother. I would reverse the termination.
The child was placed with her paternal grandmother following some serious problems the birth mother had in parenting her *69child. After placement with the grandmother, the marriage of the mother and father was dissolved. The birth parents were granted joint custody, but the birth father was named physical custodian, and his mother, the paternal grandmother, continued to care for the child. The grandmother moved with the child to Arkansas. The grandmother sought to adopt the child in Arkansas, but the adoption was not granted. The birth mother sought to get the child returned to Iowa. The grandmother then sought termination in Iowa and her son consented.
My first question is, what is the standing of the grandmother to petition for adoption if the child has been placed with her in a foster care situation?
My second question is, how do we assess the issue of the birth mother’s parenting skills when she was not granted physical care of the child in the dissolution decree?
My third question is, how can we assess the issue of reasonable efforts to unite the birth mother with her child when the child is allowed to go to Arkansas with the grandmother and the mother, who lives at the poverty level, has few resources to allow her to contact the child? The majority opinion does not address these three issues.
The birth mother made efforts to attend parenting classes and work on a substance abuse problem. She maintained contact with the department. She maintained limited contact with the child. She has a second child. There is no evidence she poses a harm to the child. I find no evidence she is not an adequate noncustodial parent. Her parental rights should not have been terminated.