Department of Human Services v. S. M. S.

379 P.3d 844, 279 Or. App. 364, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 862
CourtBenton County Circuit Court, Oregon
DecidedJuly 7, 2016
Docket15JU04397; A160831
StatusPublished

This text of 379 P.3d 844 (Department of Human Services v. S. M. S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Benton County Circuit Court, 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. S. M. S., 379 P.3d 844, 279 Or. App. 364, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 862 (Or. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

ORTEGA, P. J.

In this dependency case, the juvenile court asserted jurisdiction over mother’s child, L, after concluding that, because of mother’s mental illness, L’s circumstances created a “current threat of serious loss or injury” that would likely be realized without the court’s intervention. ORS dlSB.lOOllXc).1 Mother appeals that judgment, contending that DHS did not establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that L’s circumstances posed a “current threat” at the time of the jurisdictional hearing. We conclude that the evidence, including mother’s history of mental illness, which involved periods of stability followed by declines serious enough to result in extended hospitalizations, was legally sufficient to permit the juvenile court to determine that L’s circumstances presented a current threat of serious loss or injury. Accordingly, we affirm the juvenile court’s judgment.

We decline to exercise our discretion to exercise de novo review, which neither party has requested in any event. Accordingly, “we draw the historical facts from the juvenile court’s explicit factual findings” and “supplement those facts contained in the trial court’s explicit findings with additional facts drawn from the record that are either uncontested or consistent with the juvenile court’s ultimate disposition.” Dept. of Human Services v. M.A.H., 272 Or App 75, 77-78, 354 P3d 738 (2015); see also Dept. of Human Services v. N. R, 257 Or App 633, 639-40, 307 P3d 444 (2013) (setting out the standard of review for a court’s jurisdictional determination).

Mother, who was 24 years old at the time of the jurisdictional hearing, has a history of severe mental illness. Although the exact timeline of her illness is unclear, it appears that mother has suffered from schizophrenia or related conditions since she was 17 years old, resulting in multiple hospitalizations over the years.

In November 2010, mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and hospitalized in Wyoming for a period [366]*366of eight months. During that hospitalization, mother gave birth to her first child, with whom she never bonded and did not want to have a relationship. Her parental rights to that child were eventually terminated by a court in that state. The record of the jurisdictional hearing contains little information regarding the circumstances of that prior termination proceeding.

In February 2012, a police officer in Wyoming found mother pacing the streets and took her to a state hospital for an evaluation. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and remained hospitalized for four to six months. After being discharged from the state hospital, mother moved to Florida.

Mother testified that, while in Florida, she continued to take the medications previously prescribed to her by her doctor at the state hospital, which were helping her meet her daily needs. Nevertheless, as occurred in Wyoming, police in Florida found mother lost on the streets and took her to the state hospital for an evaluation, which resulted in a two-month hospitalization. Upon her discharge, mother returned to Wyoming.

Sometime in 2013, mother was hospitalized once more; however, the record is unclear about the date and length of that hospitalization and whether that hospitalization took place in Wyoming or Utah. Mother testified that, at the time, she had stopped taking her medications and believed (incorrectly) that she was pregnant and about to give birth.

In March 2014, mother settled back in Wyoming where she had secured an apartment. At that time, it appears that mother was taking her medications, but she stopped taking them in August 2014 because she believed that they were no longer effective.

In November 2014, mother became pregnant with L. Although she was not taking her medications at that time, mother obtained appropriate prenatal care during her pregnancy. Then, in July 2015, just before her due date, mother traveled to Portland intending to find a hospital that would deliver her baby. Unable to persuade a Portland doctor to [367]*367schedule her for delivery, she headed south to Corvallis. Mother presented herself at the emergency room of a hospital there while having contractions. Initially, mother was uncooperative with medical personnel, which made it difficult for them to ascertain her identity and medical history. Hospital staff eventually obtained enough information to proceed to deliver L by Cesarian section.

After mother gave birth to L, hospital staff expressed concern about mother’s sudden arrival at the hospital and other behaviors. In particular, staff noted that mother was agitated and kept twisting an object in her hand, appeared to be experiencing hallucinations, and argued with doctors about L’s breathing and nonexistent medical conditions. In response, mother’s treating physician, Dr. Rangel, contacted the on-call psychiatrist. Mother was then transferred to the hospital’s psychiatric unit for further observation and was discharged a few days later. By then, DHS had removed L from mother’s care and filed a dependency petition.2

Following L’s birth and mother’s discharge from the hospital, mother engaged in outpatient mental health treatment. She saw a psychiatrist-, Dr. Sobotka, and a qualified mental health counselor, Shively. Sobotka diagnosed mother with schizophrenia, unspecified type. At the jurisdictional hearing, Sobotka testified that mother had kept all of her four appointments with him and continued to take medications as prescribed. Sobotka opined that, at the time of the hearing, mother’s mental illness was adequately managed. However, he testified that, if mother were to interrupt her treatment, it was likely that her symptoms would return, though he declined to indicate how long that would take. Shively similarly testified that mother kept all of her [368]*368four 30-minute counseling appointments and appeared to be sincere in her desire to access resources for herself and her child. Indeed, at the time of the jurisdictional hearing, mother had procured an apartment and a car, was attending parenting classes, had purchased appropriate baby supplies, and had successfully participated in at least 14 supervised visits with L.

Despite mother’s progress, the juvenile court asserted jurisdiction over L, concluding that “the infant child’s circumstances create [d] a current threat of serious loss or injury.” The court reasoned:

“Although [m] other is currently not suffering from any active symptoms of schizophrenia and her mental illness is being adequately treated right now, she has been stabilized for a very short period of time. She has a demonstrated history of interrupting her treatment and stopping taking medications. Her repeated pattern of interrupted treatment followed by several lengthy psychiatric hospitalizations pose a reasonable likelihood of harm to the welfare of the child.”

The court also found that mother had no friends or family in Oregon and expressed concern that, ultimately, there was no one in mother’s life to monitor her treatment and detect any symptoms, should they return.

On appeal, mother challenges the court’s ultimate determination that L’s circumstances posed a “current threat” of harm.

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Related

Department of Human Services v. S. P.
275 P.3d 979 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2012)
Department of Human Services v. N. P.
307 P.3d 444 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
Department of Human Services v. C. F.
308 P.3d 344 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2013)
Department of Human Services v. M. A. H.
354 P.3d 738 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 P.3d 844, 279 Or. App. 364, 2016 Ore. App. LEXIS 862, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-human-services-v-s-m-s-orccbenton-2016.