Rogers v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 2017 Ark. App. 469

A.B. (b. 2007) became a dependent-neglected juvenile after concerns about her half-sibling led DHS to intervene; A.B. remained separated from her biological mother and in foster care.
Burt Rogers was later identified by DNA (June 2016) as A.B.’s legal father; DHS amended its termination petition to include Rogers (May 2016).
DHS caseworker met with Rogers before and after his January 2016 incarceration, referred him for DNA testing and parenting classes, and recommended mental-health treatment, stable housing, income, and resolution of legal issues.
Rogers was arrested in January 2016, convicted, and served jail time; he was released roughly one month before the November 2016 termination hearing and remained on parole and without stable housing or employment.
The circuit court terminated Rogers’s parental rights under the “subsequent-factors” statutory ground (parent failed to remedy issues arising after the original dependency filing despite offered services) and found termination was in the child’s best interest; Rogers appealed only the sufficiency of the ground.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether DHS proved the statutory "subsequent-factors" ground for termination by clear and convincing evidence	Rogers: DHS failed to offer appropriate family services to him and did not show he failed to remedy subsequent factors	DHS/Court: DHS engaged Rogers, offered services/referrals, and Rogers failed to comply; his incarceration and continued instability showed incapacity/indifference	Court affirmed: evidence (DHS contacts, referrals, Rogers’s noncompliance, criminal conduct/incarceration, lack of housing/bond) supported the subsequent-factors ground by clear and convincing evidence

Jackson v. Ark. Dep’t of Human Servs., 429 S.W.3d 276 (Ark. Ct. App. 2013) (reversed termination where DHS failed to offer or follow up with services to father)