In the Interest of A.H., B.H., B.H., B.H., E.H., and K.H., Minor Children
C.H., Mother-Appellant.
R.H., Father-Appellant.
Attorney for Appellants Mother and Father
Stephanie R. Fueger
Attorney for Appellee State
Tamara Knight, Assistant Attorney General
Guardian ad Litem
Gina L. Kramer
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clayton County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Badding, P.J. (11 pages)
A mother and father appeal from a juvenile court’s dispositional review order denying their motion for reasonable efforts, in which they asked the court to remove the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services’ case manager and supervisor and to order the department to develop a plan to reinstate contact with their two removed children. OPINION HOLDS: Although we do not reach the merits of the juvenile court’s refusal to interfere with the department’s staffing decisions, we reverse its reasonable-efforts ruling. The juvenile court made no finding that visitation would be detrimental to the children and therefore should have granted the parents’ motion for reasonable efforts to create a plan for family interactions. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for an order requiring the department to develop a plan for family contact, absent a finding that Iowa Code section 232.102A(2) (2024) bars such interactions. We affirm the rest of the court’s dispositional review order.
