## Facts

- N.M.W., born in 1983, lived with her mother, B.W., until 1989.
- The Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) had been involved since 1984 due to repeated reports of extreme filth, inadequate food, inadequate supervision, and the mother’s refusal of services.
- In April 1989, police found N.M.W. alone in the street about a block from the mother’s residence; the child stated her mother told her to go outside.
- A DHS protective worker inspected the apartment and found pervasive squalor, including a strong stench of cat urine and feces, garbage and clutter throughout, and approximately 11–12 cats living there.
- Fecal matter was reportedly present in living areas, including the kitchen and bathroom; the refrigerator allegedly contained minimal food.
- DHS warned the mother that the child could be placed in foster care if the home was not cleaned and the cats were removed; the mother did not correct the conditions and continued to refuse offered services.
- The juvenile court adjudicated N.M.W. a child in need of assistance (CINA) and placed the child in DHS custody for continued foster care.

## Issues

1. Whether clear and convincing evidence supported adjudicating N.M.W. a child in need of assistance based on inadequate shelter and the mother’s refusal of available services.
2. Whether the juvenile court properly ordered continued foster care placement as the disposition.

## Decision

- The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court’s CINA adjudication and dispositional order.
- The court held the record contained clear and convincing evidence that the mother failed to provide minimally adequate shelter due to chronic unsanitary conditions and that she refused services offered to remedy the deficiencies.
- The court took judicial notice of the health hazards posed by animal fecal matter in living quarters and concluded the child’s welfare justified intervention to prevent actual harm.
- A dissent argued the case was essentially about poor housekeeping and that the home could have been cleaned without removing the child.

## Legal Principles

- A CINA adjudication must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.
- A parent’s failure to provide minimally adequate food, clothing, or shelter can satisfy the CINA definition when the parent also refuses other means made available to provide those essentials.
- Chronic, extreme unsanitary living conditions may constitute inadequate “shelter” even without proof of actual physical injury to the child.
- A court may take judicial notice of generally known health hazards associated with pervasive animal feces and similar unsanitary conditions.
- Child-welfare adjudications may be preventive, permitting court action when conditions present a substantial risk of harm.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed adjudication of N.M.W. as a child in need of assistance and continued foster care because the mother’s persistently filthy home conditions fell below a minimal standard of care, the mother refused offered services to correct them, and the court could act to prevent foreseeable health risks without waiting for actual injury.


In re N.M.W., 461 N.W.2d 478 (Iowa Ct. App. 1990)