Department of Human Services v. J. R. L.

300 P.3d 291, 256 Or. App. 437, 2013 WL 1755876, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 474
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 24, 2013
Docket101256J; Petition Number 101256J01; A152500
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 300 P.3d 291 (Department of Human Services v. J. R. L.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Department of Human Services v. J. R. L., 300 P.3d 291, 256 Or. App. 437, 2013 WL 1755876, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 474 (Or. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

NAKAMOTO, J.

Mother appeals a permanency judgment, assigning error to the juvenile court’s denial of her motion to dismiss jurisdiction and wardship over her daughter, A, and the change of the permanency plan from reunification to adoption. A was a ward of the court based on mother’s admissions relating to exposure of A to risks of sexual abuse by A’s father, a lack of suitable housing, and a failure to meet A’s educational needs. Mother contends that the wardship should have been dismissed because she had adequately addressed those bases for jurisdiction and because the juvenile court improperly relied on a different basis for continuing jurisdiction — mother’s mental health — as to which mother had not received required notice. In part, mother challenges the change of plan on the same basis, arguing that the Department of Human Services (DHS) failed to establish the insufficiency of mother’s progress toward ameliorating the bases for jurisdiction that had been pleaded and proved. We conclude that the juvenile court erred in relying on facts extrinsic to the jurisdictional judgment in denying mother’s motion to dismiss and in its determination of the permanency plan for A. Accordingly, we do not reach mother’s other arguments, and we reverse and remand.

The parties do not request that we exercise our discretion to review this case de novo, ORS 19.415(3)(b), and we decline to do so. See ORAP 5.40(8)(c) (we exercise de novo review “only in exceptional cases”). Accordingly, we are bound by the juvenile court’s findings of historical fact as long as there is “any evidence” to support them. State v. S.T.S., 236 Or App 646, 655, 238 P3d 53 (2010). We review the juvenile court’s conclusions for legal error. Id. When the juvenile court does not make findings on disputed issues of fact, but evidence supports more than one factual conclusion, we presume that the court decided those issues in a manner consistent with its ultimate conclusion. Id. We state the following facts consistently with those standards.

In 2010, DHS removed A, who was almost seven years old, from mother’s custody and filed a petition for the juvenile court to assume jurisdiction over A. Father was a [440]*440convicted “predatory sex offender” and, as a condition of his parole, was ordered not to have contact with any minors, including A. Although mother was aware of father’s condition of parole, she allowed him to have contact with A. At that time, mother and father were married and had been homeless for nearly two-and-one-half months, living in their van. While the family was homeless, A had not attended school.

At the juvenile dependency proceeding in March 2011, mother did not contest the allegations in the petition as amended. Mother stipulated to the following facts:

“2(a) The mother has allowed the father, a registered sex offender, to live with her and her daughter which places the child at risk of harm.
“2(b) The mother is in need of education and counseling to appreciate the risk of harm father presents to the child and learn how to protect the daughter from the father.
“2(c) The mother lacks safe and stable housing in which to raise the child.
“2(d) The mother failed to meet the educational needs of the child.”

In March 2011, the juvenile court entered a combined jurisdictional and dispositional judgment based on those admissions, making A a ward of the court. The court’s judgment stated that the case plan was reunification with mother and the concurrent plan was adoption. The judgment stated that the “DHS service agreement/letter of expectation is attached to and made a part of” the order finding A to be within the court’s jurisdiction, and the judgment also contained the court’s order that mother comply with the terms of that service agreement or letter of expectation.

The form that was attached to the jurisdictional judgment was entitled “Services Requested”; it contained a column of various preprinted items and two columns headed “MOTHER” and “FATHER.” Some of the items under the column for mother had been checked off, including the following services or activities: “[psychological *** [e]valuation,” with a handwritten notation stating, “Follow all [441]*441recommendations”; ensure that A have no contact with father; participate in individual counseling, again with the addition, “Follow all recommendations”; seek and maintain steady employment or reliable income adequate for self-support; “[s]afe and [s]table [bjousing”; and continue with counseling at Options Counseling Services (Options).

After A was placed in DHS’s custody, mother cut off contact with father. Additionally, pursuant to DHS’s request, mother participated in the Family Sex Abuse Treatment (FSAT) program, a program provided at Options that is geared towards educating mother, a nonoffending parent, to appreciate the risk of harm that a sex offender like father presented to A. Although mother’s attendance was inconsistent at times, she successfully completed the program.

Mother also completed parenting counseling through Options and a separate parenting class with another agency. Mother participated in individual counseling, albeit inconsistently, through Clackamas County Behavioral Health (CCBH). Mother was unsuccessful in obtaining employment and, although she eventually secured housing with friends, she did not have her own apartment or another housing situation, such as a place in a family shelter, that could safely accommodate both her and A.

In June 2011, mother participated in a psychological evaluation. Dr. Gillis, a licensed psychologist, evaluated mother and prepared a written report. Gillis determined that mother met the criteria for “Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Moderate” and recommended that mother participate in individual therapy aimed at decreasing symptoms of depressed moods and continue with medication management of her mood symptoms. Gillis concluded that mother’s “symptoms of depression are currently interfering with her ability to meet daily responsibilities. And, the [test] results * * * suggest that a high level of distress is increasing the risk of neglectful or abusive parenting.” In response to DHS’s specific referral questions, Gillis determined that mother’s “prognosis for benefitting from mental health services is good; however, it is difficult to determine with a sufficient degree of certainty whether she will actually address the [442]*442concerns that resulted in DHS involvement (i.e., keeping [A] safe from unsafe adults).”

Several months later, in August 2011, DHS submitted a report to the court summarizing mother’s situation since the last court hearing. DHS stated that mother was diagnosed with depression and suggested that her “lack of follow through in multiple areas since the opening of this case * * * is likely a result of her untreated depression.” In subsequent reports to the court, DHS noted that mother continued to suffer from depression and anxiety and that those mental health issues were related to her lack of follow through in finding employment and housing.

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Bluebook (online)
300 P.3d 291, 256 Or. App. 437, 2013 WL 1755876, 2013 Ore. App. LEXIS 474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-human-services-v-j-r-l-orctapp-2013.