T.K. v. State, 344 P.3d 1153

Mother has three children; parental rights to the eldest (E.) were previously terminated after reunification efforts failed; a second child (J.P.) was removed twice for domestic violence, substance abuse, and instability but was briefly returned to Mother in 2011.
AK was born in 2011 and was placed in DCFS custody in June 2013 after parents were arrested and incarcerated; parents admitted most allegations of neglect and the court found J.P. and AK neglected and substantiated child endangerment/physical neglect/domestic violence.
At disposition, the juvenile court denied reunification services for Mother as inappropriate under Utah Code § 78A-6-312(20) and (22), citing prior termination as a presumption against services, failure to respond to earlier services, ongoing substance abuse, domestic violence, instability, and continued ties to the father.
DCFS sought termination of Mother’s parental rights to AK; at the termination trial Mother presented testimony about recent treatment efforts and witnesses, while Foster Mother testified about AK’s integration into the foster family and interest in adopting.
The juvenile court terminated Mother’s parental rights to AK, finding permanency and stability were necessary and that Mother remained unable to meet AK’s needs; Mother appealed, challenging denial of reunification services, sufficiency of evidence for termination, and admission of Foster Mother’s testimony.

Issue	Mother’s Argument	State/DCFS’s Argument	Held
Whether reunification services were inappropriate	Court misweighed rebuttal evidence to presumption against services and misapplied § 78A-6-312(22)	Court properly exercised discretion, considered statutory factors, and presumption applied due to prior termination	Affirmed: denial of services not against clear weight of evidence
Whether prior failure to respond to services and history of violence were misapplied	Mother argued she responded successfully (regained J.P.), was often a victim, and rebutted presumption	Court relied on removals after prior services, criminal history, reports of slapping, and pattern of instability	Affirmed: court properly considered failures to respond and history of violence
Whether termination of parental rights was against clear weight of evidence	Mother argued recent efforts and past successes outweighed grounds for termination	State emphasized long-term substance abuse, repeated removals, instability, and late/limited recent efforts	Affirmed: evidence supported finding Mother unfit and unable to adjust
Whether Foster Mother’s testimony was improperly admitted for bias	Mother said foster parent inherently biased and testimony prejudiced proceedings	State cited statutory duty to consider child’s ties to foster family and mother could cross-examine for bias	Affirmed: foster parent competent; judge may assess bias; exclusion not required

In re N.R., 967 P.2d 951 (Utah Ct. App.) (parents have no constitutional right to reunification services and juvenile court discretion)
In re B.R., 171 P.3d 435 (Utah 2007) (appellate court must defer to juvenile court factfinding; recent rehabilitative efforts will not necessarily outweigh long-term patterns)
In re S.Y.T., 267 P.3d 930 (Utah Ct. App. 2011) (appellate recitation of facts in the light most favorable to juvenile court findings)