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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 2-046 / 11-1869 Filed June 13, 2012 IN THE INTEREST OF K.P., C.P., D.N., J.S., and H.S., Minor Children, D.N., Father of D.N. and H.S., Appellant, B.S., Mother, Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachel E. Seymour, District Associate Judge.

A mother and father appeal a juvenile court ruling regarding placement and visitation in a child-in-need-of-assistance proceeding. REMANDED. REVERSED AND

Laura J. Lockwood of Pargulski, Hauser & Clarke, P.L.C., Des Moines, for appellant-father of H.S. and D.N. Erin M. Carr of Carr & Wright, P.L.C., Des Moines, for appellant-mother. Melissa A. Nine of Kaplan, Frese & Nine, L.L.P., Marshalltown, for maternal grandmother. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bruce Kempkes, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Jennifer G. Galloway, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

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Christopher R. Kemp of Kemp, Sease & Dyer, Des Moines, for father of C.P. and K.P. Thomas G. Crabb, Des Moines, for father of J.S. Nicole Garbis Nolan, Youth Law Center, Des Moines, attorney and guardian ad litem for minor children.

Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.

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MULLINS, J. The mother and one of the fathers of five children appeal the juvenile court ruling modifying placement of the children and denying the mother's visitation requests. We find that placing the children with DHS for foster care was not the least restrictive placement and was contrary to the best interests of the children. We further find that because the evidence shows the mother is excelling at the services provided, the juvenile court erred in denying her request for reasonable efforts to increase visitation and attempt reunification. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. The mother has five children: H.S. (born February 2002), J.S. (born February 2004), D.N. (born May 2007), C.P. (born November 2009), and K.P. (born July 2010). D.N. Sr. is the father of H.S. and D.N. The other two fathers have not appealed and their rights are not at issue in this opinion. The children came to the attention of the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) in August 2010, after ten-month-old C.P. suffered significant burn injuries to his feet. The burn injuries were more severe on his left foot, where the child sustained a partial thickness burn covering the distal two-thirds of the sole of the foot extending around to one-third of the top of the foot as well as between the toes. The burned and unburned areas of the left foot were separated by a sharp demarcation. The mother testified the injuries occurred accidentally when the child opened and stood upon a hot oven door. However, medical

professionals opined that the injuries were most consistent with an immersion

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burn, not a flat-surface contact burn. In addition, drug concerns were raised when a hair sample from C.P. tested positive for opiates. Medical professionals stated that it would have been impossible for the positive test to have been the result of any medication administered at the hospital, and that C.P. had to have been exposed to a medication containing morphine or codeine prior to his admission. In the subsequent investigation into possible drug use, the mother bleached her hair twice and one of the fathers, J.P., shaved his and the three older boys' heads. Based on these two incidents, two child protective assessments and a criminal investigation were initiated. The first child protective assessment was founded and confirmed for physical abuse by the mother and the mother was placed on the child abuse registry. The second assessment concerning drug use was also founded for denial of critical care for failing to provide proper supervision. The criminal investigation eventually resulted in the mother being charged by trial information with child endangerment causing a bodily injury, a class "D" felony, and neglect of a dependant person, a class "C" felony. See Iowa Code

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