Najam, J.
Statement of the Case
T.D. (“Mother”), and J.W., Sr. (“Father”) (collectively, “the Parents”) appeal the trial court’s termination of their parental rights over J.W., Jr., Z.W., and D.D. (“the Children”). The Parents raise a single issue for our review: whether the statutory waiting period under Indiana Code Section 31-35-2-4(b)(2)(A)(iii) is tolled during any period in which the Indiana Department of Child Services (“DCS”) fails to provide or otherwise make services available to a parent prior to seeking the termination of that parent’s parental rights. On this question of first impression, we hold that Indiana Code Section 31-35-2-4(b)(2)(A)(iii) simply requires the DCS to demonstrate compliance with the statutory waiting period—namely, that a child has been removed from a parent for fifteen of the most recent twenty-two months immediately prior to the termination hearing. That statute does not condition the waiting period on whether the DCS provided or otherwise made available any type of services to the parent. As such, we affirm the trial court’s termination of the Parents’ parental rights.
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Indiana Code Section 31-35-2-4(b)(2)(A)(iii) required the DCS to demonstrate that
[t]he child has been removed from the parent and has been under the supervision of a local office or probation department for at least fifteen (15) months of the most recent twenty-two (22) months, beginning with the date the child is removed from the home as a result of the child being alleged to be a child in need of services or a delinquent child[.]
That language is unambiguous and simply requires the DCS to demonstrate that a specific waiting period has occurred—namely, fifteen of the most recent twenty-two months immediately prior to the termination hearing—with a child removed from the parent. That statutory language does not condition that waiting period on whether the DCS provided or otherwise made available any type of services to the parent or, for that matter, whether the parent successfully or unsuccessfully participated in any services.
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In sum, we cannot say that the trial court’s finding that the DCS satisfied its burden to show that the Children had been removed from the Parents for fifteen of the twenty-two months immediately prior to the termination hearing is contrary to law or otherwise clearly erroneous. As such, we affirm the court’s termination of Parents’ parental rights.
Affirmed.
Mathias, J., and Bradford, J. concur.