In the Interest of J.E., Minor Child
S.E., Mother-Appellant
Attorney for Appellant Mother
Esther J. Dean
Attorney for Appellee State
Natalie Hedberg, Assistant Attorney General
Guardian ad Litem
Jean Pfeiffer
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Chicchelly, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. (7 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her son. OPINION HOLDS: The juvenile court properly denied the mother’s request for six more months to work toward reunification, as she offered little evidence showing she could make the necessary progress to eliminate the need for removal by the end of that period. Given the mother’s concession that, absent that extra time to make progress, the son could not be returned to her custody, termination was appropriate under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2024). The mother has waived any best-interest challenge. And because the mother never advocated for a permissive exception during the termination hearing, we cannot consider the issue for the first time on appeal. We thus affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.
