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. Finally, the CASA recommended that adoption by the Bartons was in P.S.'s best interest and raised serious concerns that the Bankses would expose P.S. to her biological parents. Under these circumstances, the circuit court's best-interest finding was not clearly erroneous.
Affirmed.
Gruber, C.J., and Whiteaker and Brown, JJ., agree.
Glover and Hixson, JJ., dissent.
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. The majority opinion takes twenty-eight pages to explain the details of its decision. The child was placed under the care and custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) during a termination-of-parental-rights case. While the
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