Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights - Salt River Pima-Maricopa

Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
Citation: Tribal Code §§ 10-82; 11-181

Any person or agency that has a legitimate interest in the welfare of a child, including, but not limited to, a relative, foster parents, physician, or a private licensed child welfare agency, may file a petition for the termination of the parent-child relationship if one or more of the following grounds exist:

• The parent has abandoned the child or has made no effort to maintain a parental relationship with the child. It shall be presumed that the parent intends to abandon the child if the child has been left without any provision for his or her support and without any communication from the parent for 6 months or longer.
• The parent has neglected or willfully abused the child.
• The parent is unable to discharge his or her parental responsibilities because of mental illness or mental deficiency, and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the condition will continue for a prolonged, indeterminate time.
• The parent is deprived of his or her civil liberties due to the conviction of a felony if the felony is of such nature as to prove the unfitness of the parent to have future custody and control of the child, or if the sentence of the parent is of such length that the child would be deprived of a normal home for a period of years.
• The parents have relinquished their rights to the child to an agency or have consented to the child's adoption.

Any of the following allegations shall be grounds for the involuntary termination of a parent's rights:

• The parent is or has been incarcerated for more than 24 months (including separate incarceration periods), requiring the child to be separated from the parent.
• The parent willfully, intentionally, or negligently caused the death of a child.
• The parent sexually assaulted or molested a child.
• The parent assaulted a child, resulting in serious physical injuries.
• The parent willfully or intentionally caused the death of a legal parent of the child.
• If the parent is alleged to be the father, the father failed to establish paternity after being given notice of the allegation as a part of the dependency action.
• The parent had his or her parental rights terminated as to another child, when the grounds for such termination were abuse or neglect, and the parent has not remediated the causes of such abuse or neglect, such as substance abuse or a treatable mental illness.
• The respondent is the alleged father, and the child was conceived as a result of rape or incest.
• The respondent is the mother, and the child was conceived as a result of consensual incest.
• The parent failed to maintain contact with the child for more than 6 months, or if the child was in dependent care, the parent failed to maintain contact with the Social Services Department for 6 months.
• The parent is unable to discharge parental responsibilities because of mental illness, and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the condition will continue for a prolonged, indeterminate time.
• The child is younger than age 3 at the time the petition to terminate parental rights, the child has been in dependent care for 6 months and is not likely to be returned to safe parental care within 6 additional months, or the parents have failed to make reasonable efforts at reunification.
• The child has been in dependent care for 24 months.
• The parent willfully or intentionally inflicted serious or chronic emotional abuse upon the child.
• The parent engaged in egregious conduct that poses a risk to the child's well-being.
• The parent had knowledge of emotional or physical abuse or neglect of the child and failed to protect that child from such harm.

Timeframes for Termination Proceedings
Citation: Tribal Code § 11-180

Any of the following may file a petition to terminate the parent-child relationship:

• The community prosecutor on behalf of the community
• The appointed guardian ad litem representing the child's best interests
• Any advocate or attorney representing the child in the dependency matter
• A parent for the voluntary termination of his or her own parental rights or the involuntary termination of parental rights of another legally established parent

Any prosecutor, guardian ad litem, advocate, attorney, or parent who is a party to the case may file the petition to terminate parental rights when basic facts exist to support any of the grounds for termination listed in § 11-181 and may be filed prior to a permanency hearing.

Exceptions

This issue is not addressed in the Tribal codes reviewed.

When Parental Rights May Be Reinstated

This issue is not addressed in the Tribal codes reviewed.