SUMMARY: Termination of parental rights was proper where the evidence showed the mother failed to make significant progress on her case plan over the course of 15 months of the child being in foster care.
Niko B., DOB 7/09, was removed from the home of the parents, Nicholas and Noahlene, on December 23, 2009, due to domestic violence and drug use. Niko was placed with his paternal grandmother and Nicholas eventually relinquished his parental rights. On February 2010, Noahlene admitted to Niko being a child within the meaning of N.R.S. 43-247(3)(a). At subsequent dispositional and review hearings, Noahlene was ordered to submit to drug testing and attend visits with Niko, among other requirements. By June 2010, minimal progress had been made and Noahlene continued marijuana use. After some progress in fall 2010 where Noahlene was involved with Family Skill Builders, by January 2011 Noahlene refused family support and budgeting skills, inconsistently attended visits and when she did attend had minimal, low-quality interactions with Niko. Noahlene did not consistently attend drug counseling and was discharged from a second program because she refused to acknowledge she had a problem. After January 2011, Noahlene disappeared for three months. In March 2011, the court changed the permanency objective from reunification to adoption, and the county attorney filed a motion to terminate Noahlene’s parental rights. After trial, the court terminated her parental rights. Noahlene appealed.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the termination of parental rights. It first noted that the child had been out of home more than 15 of the prior 22 months. The Court of Appeals, in addressing best interests, noted that Noahlene did not successfully complete the case goals and had disappeared for 3 months at a time when Niko had already been in foster care over a year. It then noted that the caseworker’s opinion of best interests to terminate was properly considered because the caseworker was closely involved in the case.