Department of Human Services v. R. S.

348 P.3d 1164, 270 Or. App. 522, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 464
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedApril 22, 2015
DocketJ120131; Petition Number 01J120131; A157630
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 348 P.3d 1164 (Department of Human Services v. R. S.) 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. R. S., 348 P.3d 1164, 270 Or. App. 522, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 464 (Or. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

DEVORE, J.

In this juvenile dependency case, mother appeals a permanency judgment changing her child’s permanency plan from reunification to “another planned permanent living arrangement” (APPLA)—here, permanent foster care.1 OAR 413-070-0532(1) (defining types of APPLA). Mother contends that the juvenile court’s findings were inconsistent, and that, even if the findings are viewed as consistent, the juvenile court erred in concluding that it was not safe for her child to return to her care. We affirm.

Mother does not request that we exercise our discretion to conduct de novo review, and we find no reason to do so. See ORAP 5.40(8)(c). Consequently, we “view the evidence, as supplemented and buttressed by permissible derivative inferences, in the light most favorable to the trial court’s disposition and assess whether, when so viewed, the record was legally sufficient to permit that outcome.” Dept. of Human Services v. N. P., 257 Or App 633, 639, 307 P3d 444 (2013).

Mother’s fourteen-year-old son, K, was removed from her care in February 2012, due to her inability to meet a DHS safety plan. In April 2012, the juvenile court took jurisdiction based on mother’s admissions that she had “failed to provide adequate supervision for [K] on one or more occasion by leaving [K] unsupervised even after [K] has made statements of wanting to harm himself,” and that she “has a history of choosing violent and/or unsafe partners, which places [K] at risk of harm.” Mother later admitted to an additional basis of jurisdiction—that is, that she “lacks parenting skills necessary to understand the child’s behavioral needs and mental health needs.” Thereafter, K lived in numerous foster placements and continued to experience significant mental health problems. He engaged in self-harming behavior, threatened and attempted to commit [524]*524suicide on multiple occasions, struggled with depression and anxiety, and exhibited other severe behavioral difficulties. He was eventually placed with a foster family with whom he began making progress. K has expressed his desire to remain permanently with that foster family.

On July 28, 2014, the juvenile court held a permanency hearing. At the time, K was thirteen years old, had lived with his foster family for one and one-half years, and had participated in a number of therapeutic services and programs. K continued exhibiting self-harming behavior and emotional difficulties, although “his outbursts [had] lessened in intensity and frequency.” He and mother had maintained contact through telephone calls as well as structured face-to-face visits. His counsel emphasized that the juvenile case was “about two and a half years old” and that K “would like to have a little bit more permanency in his life and knowing that he isn’t at the edge of going home at any given time ** * * ” Mother responded that she had been making progress toward reunification and that she needed more time, because she wanted reunification “to be careful and methodical, not rushed.”2

At the hearing, the evidence generally indicated that mother had engaged in a number of efforts pursuant to DHS’s action plan and had made individual progress toward DHS’s parenting goals. According to DHS’s court report dated July 22, 2014, mother participated in family therapy with K, had an unsupervised visit with him, met weekly with an Options employee to develop parenting skills, completed a collaborative problem solving class, was attempting to enroll in an additional program, and was continuing with her alcohol treatment. The report detailed that mother “attends all WRAP meetings, family therapy, and additional services that are asked of her. She tries hard to respect [K’s] wishes the best she can, which meant ending weekly phone calls for the time being per [his] request.”

[525]*525The report indicated, however, that there were ongoing emotional and psychological obstacles between mother and K, requiring mother to continue efforts to gain K’s trust. DHS advised that poor communication with mother was a trigger for K’s self-harming behaviors and outbursts. DHS explained that “[K] does not trust his mother to keep him safe and therefore *** is susceptible to misinterpreting things that she says.” DHS outlined actions that mother should take, including continued participation in parenting training and therapy and completion of a psychological evaluation.

A letter dated June 6, 2014, from a family therapist who was treating K expressed “concerns about [K’s] mother being able to manage her emotional reactivity and put [K’s] needs before her own.” The therapist detailed K’s progress in managing his anxiety and behavior but noted the inability of mother to properly respond to K without “considerable coaching.”

Another letter dated July 28, 2014, from a Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteer, reported that “family therapy at times had been damaging, even emotionally devastating to [K] as his mother failed to react supportively as [K] suffered an emotional crisis.” The CASA volunteer contended that mother’s progress had been inconsistent, and sometimes “deeply upsetting” to K. The volunteer went on to suggest that communication difficulties between mother and K had resulted in K “engaging] in minor self-harm actions.”

The juvenile court ruled, after over two years had passed, that it would change the permanency plan to APPLA, explaining that

“there comes a point in time when the court has to make a decision in the best interest of moving forward, so I will change the plan to something other than return to parent. * * * I know [K] deserves some sort of permanent plan going forward.
“It is my hope that he continues to foster his relationship with his mother, but under the circumstances in the best interest of the child I don’t find that a return is reasonable within a short amount of time. Again, we’ve been here since April 17, 2012, that’s when jurisdiction was established [526]*526*** I find the agency has made reasonable efforts, but I think in the best interest of [K] that’s the best plan to move forward.”

Mother asked the court to make findings on “the progress of the parents.” The court made the following additional findings:

“[M]om has made progress. More important—the most important thing is she’s clean and sober. I think that rings true throughout the report. The problem is, is that she’s still not, as we sit here today, in a place where [K] can safely be returned to her care due to his emotional needs, as well as her own, and so I think that’s the big part of it. She is not a safe resource at this point.
“Again, the big factor in this decision it was two years plus that he has been in care, and she’s still not in a place where * * * he can be safe in her care. As the letter points out, she’s obviously done well with her clean and sober behavior, made a lot of progress in that regard, but it’s the communication skills and the emotional ups and downs of this case that is troubling to the court * * * ”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
348 P.3d 1164, 270 Or. App. 522, 2015 Ore. App. LEXIS 464, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-human-services-v-r-s-orctapp-2015.