In the Interest of D.M., S.M., and F.M., Minor Children
D.M., Father-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant Father
Merrill C. Swatz
Attorney for Appellee State
Mackenzie Moran, Assistant Attorney General
Guardian ad Litem
Mary Cowdrey
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Paul G. Crawford, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, S.J. (5 pages)
The juvenile court terminated the father’s parental rights to F.M., born in 2016; D.M., born in 2018; and S.M., born in 2018, pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2024). On appeal, the father concedes the statutory ground for termination was proved. He argues it is in the children’s best interests to give him six more months to work toward reunification with the children, who had been returned to the mother’s custody. Alternatively, he asks us to apply the permissive factor in section 232.116(3)(a) to save the parent-child relationships. OPINION HOLDS: Because we cannot conclude the need for removal would no longer exist in six months and decline to apply a permissive factor to save the parent-child relationships, we affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.
