AR SB85

Amends Arkansas Code § 9-27-341(a)(4) to clarify that a parent's resumption of contact or efforts to participate in a case plan after a permanency planning hearing cannot alone be sufficient reason to deny termination of parental rights.

Requires courts to base termination decisions on the complete record of the parent's compliance throughout the entire dependency-neglect case and evidence presented at the termination hearing.

Adds an affirmative defense to termination of parental rights based on a prior involuntary termination, allowing parents to demonstrate they have remedied the conditions that caused the previous termination.

Establishes that having a prior involuntary termination of parental rights as to any child is grounds for termination in subsequent cases, unless the parent proves remediation of the underlying conditions.