by the Arkansas Court of Appeals

“ Several witnesses described the Bartons as "good" and "great" parents. Rebecca, who had herself been adopted through the foster-care system, could relate to P.S.'s experiences as a foster and adoptive child. Rebecca testified at length about the maltreatment allegations, providing reasonable explanations for the claims and denying any abuse. She testified that the Arkansas State Police investigated the matter and found it unsubstantiated. In comparison, DHS provided no evidence or testimony to support its belief that the allegations were true. ”

“ Using food as punishment, Complexity of care of the adoptive child and the concerns you mentioned with the child during the child maltreatment investigation, The Department found the neighbor to be credible and the adoptive child was fearful, The Department does believe that the bending back of the thumb is taking place in the home, The Department does believe that the Bartons have spanked the foster child. It is undisputed that the language of this letter neither referenced the adoption case nor mentioned the Bartons’ adoption petition or DHS’s denial of consent to that petition. ”

“ While the termination case was pending, the child lived primarily with the foster parents in Russellville but was given visitation with the grandparents in Florida. In May 2017, DHS removed the child from the foster parents' home. On May 15, 2017, DHS refused the foster parents' request to consent to place custody of the child with them, citing that it was not in the best interest of the child. On the other hand, shortly before the adoption hearing, DHS consented to placing custody of the child with the grandparents. ”

“ The CASA stated that he had concerns that the Bankses would allow P.S.'s biological parents, whose rights had been terminated, to have access to the child, emphasized that P.S. should not have any contact with her biological parents, noted that Mrs. Canerday-Banks had been in recent contact with her son, and noted that her son lived near his father in Louisiana. The CASA report also raised a concern that, during the dependency-neglect case, P.S.'s father had "refused services telling the caseworker that he would have access to [P.S.] when his parents get custody." ”

“ Kenneth S. Hixson, Judge, dissenting. "You can’t see the forest for the trees." This is an expression typically used in an opening statement by an attorney to a jury. One source defines it as "an expression used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole." In my opinion, this expression is apropos in this case.
This case can be reduced to its basics. This is a simple contest between grandparents (the Bankses) and foster parents (the Bartons) over the adoption of the grandchild. ”

“ In an unrelated proceeding with unrelated foster children, fourteen days prior to this adoption hearing, DHS disqualified and terminated the Bartons as foster parents; not to this child, but to all foster children in the State of Arkansas. On August 11, DHS mailed a letter to the Bartons thanking them for their previous services as foster parents and informing them that their home would officially be closed as a foster home for the following reasons:
Using food as punishment. ”

“ We agree with the Bartons' argument and therefore grant their motion to strike DHS's brief. We recently addressed this issue in Washington County Regional Medical Center v. Northwest Physicians, LLC, 2018 Ark. App. 497. There, we declined to consider arguments raised in an appellee's brief in which the party had neither appealed nor cross-appealed but argued in favor of the appellant and sought affirmative relief from this court. We reasoned that the party did not file a notice of appeal as required by Arkansas Rule of Appellate Procedure–Civil 3 (b) (2017) and was therefore not an appellant. ”

“ The letter, which was sent from DHS to the Bartons, states that "your home has been reevaluated and approved from 5/23/2017 through 5/23/2018 provided that you remain in compliance with DCFS foster home standards during this time period." ↑ Despite the court's multiple statements that "nobody's asked me to waive it," the DHS attorney present at the hearing never requested that the court waive the waiting period. ”

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