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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 7-886 / 07-1718 Filed December 28, 2007

IN THE INTEREST OF E.G., Minor Child, STATE OF IOWA, Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John G. Mullen, District Associate Judge.

The State appeals a district court ruling terminating the Iowa Department of Human Services' guardianship of the child, granting guardianship to the guardian ad litem, and placing custody with the foster mother. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Charles Phillips, Assistant Attorney General, Michael Walton, Acting County Attorney, and Gerda Lane, Assistant County Attorney, for appellant State. Barbara Maness, Davenport, for intervenor. Angela Fritz Reyes, Davenport, for minor child.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Mahan and Zimmer, JJ.

2 MAHAN, J. The State appeals a district court ruling terminating the Iowa Department of Human Services' (Department) guardianship of the child, granting

guardianship to the guardian ad litem, and placing custody with the foster mother. We reverse and remand to the juvenile court with directions. I. Background Facts and Proceedings This is the State's second appeal arising out of the post-termination phase of this juvenile case. The subject of this case is a three-year-old boy with

achondroplasia dwarfism who has been in the foster home of Susan since March 2005. We incorporate the facts, as set out in our previous opinion in this case, in In re E.G., No. 06-1894 (Iowa Ct. App. July 12, 2007). following facts. In the State's first appeal, we found that the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in granting Susan's motion to intervene. In re E.G., No. 06-1894 (Iowa Ct. App. July 12, 2007). However, we affirmed the guardianship of the We further add the

Department, reversed the juvenile court's order placing custody of Elijah with Susan, and vacated the adoption order because no petition for adoption had been filed. Id. We found the juvenile court's order for adoptive placement with Susan invaded the right of the Department, as guardian, to consent to Elijah's adoption. Specifically, we stated that: The State argues strongly that, under these circumstances, the juvenile court does not have authority to direct the specific adoptive home for the child. In In re C.D.P., 315 N.W.2d 731, 733 (Iowa 1982), the supreme court held that in delinquency dispositions, the juvenile court picks the type of placement for the delinquent child but not the specific institution. That decision is left to the child's custodian. C.P.D., 315 N.W.2d at 733. The court

3 determined that when the legislature gave the juvenile court the authority to specify the child's best interests, it granted authority to the juvenile court to direct the type of placement the Department was to make, but did not empower the juvenile court to direct a specific placement, though the court had the power to monitor the placement. Id. The evidence shows the Department was responsibly discharging its duties as guardian. It found an adoptive home for Elijah that the juvenile court found to be "highly qualified," a finding with which we agree. We affirm the guardianship of the Department and reverse the juvenile court's order placing the child with Susan. Id. The supreme court denied further review of the case on August 3, 2007. On August 16, 2007, Susan petitioned the juvenile court for guardianship and custody of Elijah and asked for concurrent jurisdiction in district court to be approved to provide for a petition for adoption to be filed by Susan. The petition included a "Notice of Rights of Proposed Ward and Notice of Guardianship Powers." The State then filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,

contending Susan's petition for guardianship and notice were apparently made under Iowa Code chapter 633

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