WAYMOND M. BROWN, Judge.
Appellant Sidney Bradbury's parental rights to D.D. (DOB 6/13/08) and C.B. (DOB 4/18/11) were terminated by order filed on May 14, 2012, in Garland County Circuit Court. On appeal he argues that the circuit court's termination of his parental rights should be reversed because there was insufficient evidence that he abandoned D.D. He further argues that, based on evidence that D.D. and C.B. should be kept together, the termination of his parental rights as to C.B. should also be reversed. We disagree and affirm the circuit court's order.
Appellant and Ashley Bradbury, who were married throughout the duration of this case, are the biological parents of D.D. C.B. is Mrs. Bradbury's son by a different man: appellant was incarcerated when C.B. was born, and court-ordered DNA testing confirmed that he is not C.B.'s biological father. When C.B. was born on April 8, 2011, he and his mother tested positive for illegal drugs. The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on C.B. a week later and placed him in the foster home where he has lived throughout the duration of this case. At the time of C.B.'s removal, appellant was incarcerated and D.D. was in the custody of appellant's relatives.
After C.B.'s removal, in May 2011, Mrs. Bradbury was sent to a residential drug-treatment center. In June 2011, DHS allowed D.D. to join her mother at the treatment center, in an effort to help Mrs. Bradbury prepare to parent her children.
In October 2011, Mrs. Bradbury, who was then pregnant with her third child, was incarcerated on drug charges. In December 2011, appellant was released from prison and placed on probation. On January 13, 2012, a permanency-planning hearing was held. Based on a report filed by DHS, the circuit court found that in spite of reasonable efforts by DHS to finalize a permanency plan,
On February 14, 2012, DHS filed a petition for termination of parental rights (TPR), seeking termination of both parents' rights as to D.D. and C.B. At that time, both appellant and Mrs. Bradbury were incarcerated at the Garland County Detention Center. A hearing was held on May 14, 2012, and the circuit court heard testimony from appellant; Mrs. Bradbury; Heather Fendley, a DHS caseworker; Shirley Watkins, an adoption specialist; and Kim Carter, the foster parent of both D.D. and C.B. Following the hearing, the circuit court granted TPR as to both parents. On May 23, 2012, appellant timely filed a notice of appeal from the TPR order.
Termination of parental rights is an extreme remedy, but parental rights will not be enforced to the detriment or destruction of the health and well-being of the child.
Cases involving the termination of parental rights are reviewed de novo on appeal.
Appellant argues that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he abandoned D.D.; in particular, he claims, there was no evidence of intent as required by Arkansas Lode Annotated section 9-27-303(2) (Supp.2011). Whether appellant's incarceration throughout the case constitutes abandonment under the statute is questionable. In its petition for TPR, however, DHS alleged another statutory ground.
The circuit court did not make a finding specific to this statutory ground in its TPR order, but this court, in its de novo review, may hold that other grounds for TPR that were alleged in the termination petition were proved, even if they were not stated in the circuit court's order.
In its TPR order, the circuit court found that DHS had made reasonable efforts to rehabilitate appellant and correct the conditions that caused removal, facilitate the goal of reunification, and finalize a permanency plan for D.D. and C.B., and
Appellant was first incarcerated when D.D. was approximately three months old (before C.B. was born), and was released on probation in December 2011, five months after D.D. was taken into DHS custody. However, he was only free for about two months during the entirety of the case and concedes that, during this time, he failed to comply with court orders or the case plan. Heather Fendley testified that appellant had not made any progress toward the goal of the case plan and had not worked diligently toward reunification, had demonstrated a continuing inability to maintain employment, stable housing, or transportation, had not formulated any plan to support the children, had failed to comply with the case plan or avail himself of services offered by DHS;
In its TPR order, the circuit court found that DHS proved by clear and convincing evidence that C.B. was adjudicated dependent-neglected and had continued to be out of the custody of his parents for twelve months, and that despite repeated reasonable efforts on the part of DHS to rehabilitate the parents and correct the conditions that caused removal, those conditions have not been remedied by the parents.
At the TPR hearing, Shirley Watkins, a DHS adoption specialist, testified
Appellant testified that he wanted C.B. too, even though C.B. wasn't his biological child. However, it was established that appellant was facing a likely sentence of thirty years in prison, and Heather Fendley testified that appellant's family had been adamant that "they didn't want anything to do with C.B. because of his heritage and that D.D., basically, should not be made to be around him because he was not white."
Appellant does not directly challenge the circuit court's finding that TPR was in the best interest of D.D. and C.B. Rather, his only argument hinges on our court finding that there was no statutory ground to terminate his parental rights as to D.D. Specifically, he contends that, because there were no statutory grounds for TPR with regard to D.D., he should retain his parental rights as to her, and because of the evidence of the siblings' strong bond, it was not in C.B.'s best interest to be separated from D.D., so TPR was not appropriate for D.D. either. However, having held that a statutory ground for TPR as to D.D. was proved, we do not find this argument persuasive. In light of the evidence presented, the circuit court's best-interest ruling was not clearly erroneous. We therefore affirm the circuit court's grant of TPR as to both D.D. and C.B.
Affirmed.
ROBBINS and GRUBER, JJ., agree.