In the Interest of A.A. and S.A., Minor Children
S.T., Mother-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant Mother
Ryan D. Gerling
Attorney for Appellee State
Mary A. Triick, Assistant Attorney General
Guardian ad Litem
Heidi D. Van Winkle
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Jennifer S. Bailey, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. Special Concurrence by Ahlers, J. (12 pages)
A mother appeals a permanency order placing guardianship of her two children with an aunt. She argues the juvenile court abused its discretion in not admitting a report from a privately done hair test. She also challenges the court’s denial of her request for six more months to reunify with her children. OPINION HOLDS: Because the mother failed to lay a proper foundation for the test, the court did not abuse its discretion. Further, we agree with the court that a guardianship is in the children’s best interests. We affirm. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I agree with and join the majority opinion. I write separately to highlight how the juvenile court's thorough, articulate, and focused ruling was instrumental in convincing me that the unique circumstances of this case call for establishment of a guardianship despite the young ages of the children.
