In the Interest of M.B. and N.B., Minor Children
State of Iowa, Appellant
Attorney for Appellant
Ellen Ramsey-Kacena, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for Appellee Father
Roberta J. Megel
Attorney for Appellee Mother
Annie M. Rohling
Guardian ad Litem
Daniel J. McGinn
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Scott Strait, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, S.J. (10 pages)
The State appeals the juvenile court’s denial of the petition to terminate the parental rights of the mother and father to N.B., born in 2016, and M.B., born in 2017. The State challenges the juvenile court’s determination that DHS failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify these children with the mother and father and that termination is not in the children’s best interests. OPINION HOLDS: Because we agree with the juvenile court that the State failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify N.B and M.B. with the mother and father, we affirm the denial of the State’s petition to terminate the parents’ rights. As the State failed to prove the statutory grounds for termination, we do not consider whether termination is in the children’s best interests.
