In the Interest of L. S. D.

Miller, Judge.

The question in this case is whether a mother’s recent improvements in behavior require the juvenile court to deny a petition to terminate her parental rights. We hold they do not and affirm.

In 1994, appellant, the natural mother, twice struck her 14-year-old child, N. H., with a hammer and also attacked the child with a screwdriver, resulting in her guilty plea to a simple assault charge. N. H. was found to be deprived, and the reunification plan provided that appellant would develop coping skills and seek drug treatment.

In a 1996 deprivation hearing, appellant stipulated that…