Appellant Charles Joslin appeals the October 2018 order of the Crawford County Circuit Court that terminated his parental rights to his three daughters, KJ (born in 2002), AJ (born in 2004), and EJ (born in 2006).
Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated section 9-27-341(b)(3) (Supp. 2017), an order forever terminating parental rights shall be based on a finding by clear and convincing evidence that (1) there are one or more statutory grounds and (2) it is in the best interest of the juvenile, including consideration of the likelihood that the juvenile will be adopted and the potential harm to the health and safety of the child if returned to the custody of the parent. We review termination-of-parental-rights orders de novo but will not reverse the circuit court's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous.
In this case, the circuit court found that there were multiple statutory grounds on which to terminate Joslin's parental rights, which Joslin does not challenge on appeal.
KJ, AJ, and EJ went into DHS custody after Joslin's arrest in May 2017 for domestic battery, domestic assault, public intoxication, and interfering with emergency communications. He was arrested because he hit all the girls, and he dragged KJ on the floor by the hoodie she was wearing, which choked KJ.
KJ was placed in the foster care of Glen Jorgensen and his wife, EJ was placed with her maternal aunt Janice Stanier, and AJ was placed sometimes with the Jorgensens and sometimes in a sub-acute therapeutic facility. Over the next year, Joslin was provided reunification services. Among other things, Joslin was ordered to
By May 2018, it was apparent that the mother was not going to try to reunify with the girls, and Joslin had made minimal progress. In the May 2018 permanency-planning hearing, the circuit court authorized DHS to file a petition to terminate parental rights, and it set a concurrent goal of permanent placement with a fit and willing relative and guardianship for one or more of the children. The circuit court found that Joslin was not making progress; he continued to show inappropriate parenting techniques when he visited his children; he was discharged from an inpatient treatment facility after an altercation with another resident; he failed to contact DHS after his discharge to reinstate a visitation schedule; he did not submit to drug screens; he did not have stable housing or a stable job; he had been incarcerated multiple times; and he was uncooperative with DHS.
In June 2018, DHS filed its petition to terminate parental rights. The initial September 2018 setting for the termination hearing was continued for three weeks at Joslin's request so that he could complete a different drug-rehabilitation program. The hearing was conducted approximately sixteen months after the girls had been taken into DHS custody.
Joslin was still in drug rehabilitation; he had no home; he had been in jail multiple times over the course of this case; he pleaded guilty to domestic battery of KJ and to violating his ex-wife's no-contact order. Joslin agreed that he had not completed an array of the court's requirements, including domestic-violence classes, drug rehabilitation, or parenting classes. Joslin said that his drug of choice was opiate pills, but he had not used drugs for six weeks. He had attended some therapy and had begun taking an antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication, but he acknowledged that controlling his anger had been a big issue for him. Joslin is a carpenter and believed that he could always find employment. Joslin testified that his girls have a close relationship with his mother and their younger sister CJ.
Joslin's rehabilitation-facility case manager testified that Joslin had been in his facility for about three weeks and had embraced his treatment plan. The case manager expected him to complete the program and then move into a sober environment, hopefully continuing with outpatient therapy.
The caseworker testified that Joslin had been kicked out of drug rehabilitation twice before starting his most recent attempt. His biggest big concerns about Joslin were his aggression, domestic violence, anger issues, and drug use, but Joslin had not completed any services nor did he have a job or home. The caseworker believed all the girls were adoptable with no barriers to adoption, but he said that AJ would continue to need mental-health care. He thought that the Jorgensens and the aunt were interested in adopting the children. With Joslin having failed to complete any services, DHS wanted to give the girls a chance at permanency.
Joslin wanted to call EJ as a witness to establish that she was bonded to her little sister and to her extended biological family. According to the attorney ad litem, the children did not want to testify, and the circuit court disallowed Joslin from calling EJ to the stand. KJ's foster father testified, however, that EJ came to visit her sisters at his house, the sisters went to see EJ at her aunt's house, the sisters sometimes walked to their grandmother's house to see CJ, and he had all the girls at his
Joslin's attorney argued that although Joslin was not quite ready to have his daughters back, he would be ready within a few months. DHS and the attorney ad litem were against continuing this case after sixteen months because the girls needed permanency. The circuit court terminated Joslin's parental rights.
Joslin argues on appeal that the circuit court erred in finding termination of his parental rights to be in these children's best interest. Joslin contends that he made progress in his mental health, he had almost completed drug rehabilitation, EJ and KJ wanted to maintain a relationship with him, the girls had significant family bonds with their blood relatives, and he could provide financial support to the girls. Joslin asserts that there were less drastic options, such as permanent custody or guardianships, that would better serve these girls and preserve the family relationships.
Citing Caldwell v. Arkansas Department of Human Services ,
Furthermore, the children are still in the custody of DHS, not relatives. EJ was placed with her maternal aunt by DHS, and the mother's parental rights have already been terminated, legally severing that familial bond. AJ was not placed with family. KJ was placed with Jorgensen, who is a former employer of Joslin. None of these placement options are with legal relatives. See Scrivner v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. ,
On de novo review of this record, we cannot say that the circuit court clearly erred. The purpose of the termination-of-parental-rights statute,
Joslin's inability or unwillingness to get his emotional, mental, criminal, and drug issues in check within a reasonable time support the trial court's finding that termination was in these children's best interest. Joslin failed to complete the steps necessary to reach the case-plan goals that were intended to help him become the safe, stable parent that these children needed. A parent's past behavior is often a good indicator of future behavior. Ewasiuk, supra. The mother's parental rights have been extinguished. The current caregivers have expressed an interest in adopting the girls, which cannot be achieved absent termination of Joslin's parental rights. Given the
Joslin's other argument on appeal is that the circuit court abused its discretion by not permitting him to call EJ as a witness so that she could explain her attachment to her paternal grandmother, her little sister CJ, and to members of her mother's family. Joslin wanted to demonstrate that preserving those familial bonds was in the girls' best interest. The attorney ad litem objected because EJ did not want to testify but offered to stipulate that the girls love Joslin and were interested in some sort of ongoing family contact. The attorney ad litem added that other witnesses were available to discuss ongoing family contact. The circuit court ruled that EJ would not be called to testify.
Although the children's attorney asserts to us that Joslin's argument is not preserved for failure to proffer EJ's testimony, we disagree. The circuit court specifically asked Joslin's counsel to provide an offer of proof, and counsel proffered the content of EJ's expected testimony. See Brown v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. ,
Moving to the merits, we review a circuit court's ruling on admissibility of evidence under a manifest-abuse-of-discretion standard. Olivares v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. ,
The stipulations offered by the attorney ad litem and the testimony of Jorgensen, Stanier, and Joslin himself adequately covered the testimony expected from EJ. Exclusion of evidence is not prejudicial if the same evidence was introduced through another source and was before the trier of fact for its consideration. Howard v. Ark. Dep't of Human Servs. ,
We affirm the termination of Joslin's parental rights.
Affirmed.
Whiteaker and Vaught, JJ., agree.
Notes
Joslin's youngest daughter, CJ (born in 2012), was initially a part of this DHS case. The circuit court granted permanent custody of CJ to the paternal grandmother and closed the case as to CJ, so CJ is not a party to this appeal. Rebecca Joslin, the biological mother, did not meaningfully participate in this DHS case, so her parental rights were terminated; she did not appeal.
Those grounds included (1) twelve months out of the home and failure to remedy, (2) willful failure to provide support or maintain contact, (3) abandonment, (4) physical abuse, (5) subsequent other factors, and (6) aggravated circumstances, meaning little likelihood of reunification with additional services. See
These allegations were deemed true at the July 2017 adjudication hearing. Joslin later pleaded guilty to domestic battery.
The circuit court permitted intervention, and by October 2017, the grandmother was granted permanent custody of CJ.