Court Opinion

ID: 9719647
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 07:58:01.15255+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:08.389870
License: Public Domain

SACKETT, Judge
(specially concurring).
I concur because I think the trial court and the majority of this court have correctly applied the dictates of Iowa statutory and case law to the facts of this case and ordered termination.
I agree with the majority that these children have had to endure things in their parental home no child should have to endure. I consider the parents’ early treatment of their children outrageous. I recognize the children cannot today be returned to their parental home without considerable assistance. But while these parents have had serious problems with substance abuse, they have made considerable strides to correct the problems and currently are considered capable of parenting a younger sibling of these three children. They are slowly making progress and, with help, there is evidence the family unit can be restored.
I am convinced children have the best chance if the state is able to help solve the serious problems of their biological family and preserve the family. I find considerable support for this position. I recognize saving the biological family is not always possible and, even if possible, frequently is very difficult.
In recent years we have turned to terminating parental rights where, as in this case, parental problems are not solved in the statutorily mandated time frame. The common law starting with the creation of man and woman established parents’ rights to raise their biological children. Contrary to this common law, we have in the past decade, driven by a legitimate need to protect children, terminated parental rights in a large number of cases. But termination of parental rights is an area we have entered with little or no history or direction. A termination court rarely has the whole picture, but faces issues of termination with little or no evidence of what future the child may have after termination.
What I continue to learn about the difficulty of finding satisfactory adoptive *878homes for children with the profile of these children convinces me I can make no assumption that a child will have a happier and more stable environment following termination.
These children, now nearly nine, seven, and five, know and are bonded to their parents. The children's biological and emotional ties to their natural parents will not be severed by this legal termination of parental rights. These children carry scars from their turbulent childhood. If adopted, there is no promise of success in a new family setting. If adopted, they will carry into their adoptive homes the unresolved problems with their natural parents.
Do we offer these children the best chance for the future by terminating parental rights, hoping they will experience a successful adoption and emerge as emotionally secure adults? Would they have a greater chance of emerging as emotionally secure if we continue to work with their family unit to help them understand their parents’ drug abuse, help their parents correct the problems, and preserve the biological unit? I have concurred in affirming termination without being able to answer these questions. The answers are not available to me under this record, and I am limited to the record before us.
I have a second concern. As I understand this proceeding, it also relieves the parents of their duty to support these children. Are we fair to the children in cutting off their right to financial support from their parents? Unless adopted, and possibly even if adopted,1 the state will assume a substantial obligation for their support. I question the justification for relieving the parents of this responsibility.
I hope the legislature and the courts of this state recognize the lack of history in this area demands we constantly question and reexamine our position to assure state intervention in the lives of troubled families is serving the best interests of the children.

. Financial Assistance. The department of human services shall, within the limits of funds appropriated to the department of human services and any gifts or grants received by the department for this purpose, provide financial assistance to any person who adopts a physically or mentally handicapped, older, or otherwise hard-to-place child, if the adoptive parent has the capability of providing a suitable home for the child but the need for special services or the costs of maintenance are beyond the economic resources of the adoptive parent. Iowa Code § 600.17 (1991).