Department of Human Services v. S. N.

282 P.3d 901, 250 Or. App. 708, 2012 WL 2403555, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 785
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 27, 2012
Docket090223J; Petition Number 090223J01; A149584
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 282 P.3d 901 (Department of Human Services v. S. N.) 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. S. N., 282 P.3d 901, 250 Or. App. 708, 2012 WL 2403555, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 785 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

SERCOMBE, J.

Father appeals a permanency judgment that changed the permanency plan for his daughter, L, from reunification to placement with a fit and willing relative through establishment of a permanent guardianship. In the judgment, the juvenile court determined that the Department of Human Services (DHS) had made reasonable efforts to reunify L with father and that father had not made sufficient progress to make it possible for L to return home within a reasonable time. We conclude that the juvenile court did not err as a matter of law and, therefore, affirm.

Father does not request that we exercise our discretion to conduct de novo review in this case, and we perceive no reason to do so. See ORAP 5.40(8)(c) (the court will exercise discretion to try the cause anew on the record only in exceptional cases). Accordingly, we “review the juvenile court’s legal conclusions for errors of law but are bound by its findings of historical fact if there is any evidence in the record to support them.” Dept. of Human Services v. N. S., 246 Or App 341, 344, 265 P3d 792 (2011), rev den, 351 Or 586 (2012). In light of that standard, we state the facts consistently with the trial court’s express and implied findings, as supplemented with uncontroverted facts from the record. See State v. B. B., 240 Or App 75, 77, 245 P3d 697 (2010).

L, who was born on December 5,2005, was conceived when father was 58 years old and mother was 16. Several years later, in October 2009, DHS removed L from mother’s home because she had been physically abused by mother’s boyfriend and mother was abusing drugs and alcohol. Father did not live in the home and was not involved in L’s care at that time. Because he had not been established as L’s legal father, father was not named in the original jurisdictional petition.

After his adult daughters helped him locate L, father spoke with the caseworker involved in her case. The caseworker advised father that she could not give him details about the case until he established paternity and referred him to the child support division. Father obtained an order establishing paternity on April 28,2010, and, thereafter, was [710]*710added to the jurisdictional petition. The petition alleged and, in July 2010, father admitted, that father was aware of the nature of the allegations relating to mother and had done nothing to assert custody of L and that father’s mental health problems interfered with his ability to safely parent and protect L.

The court ordered father to complete a psychological evaluation and to participate in services recommended as a result of that evaluation. Although father’s attorney initially requested that certain psychologists not conduct the evaluation and father declined to attend two scheduled evaluations because they were too far away, ultimately, in November and December 2010, Dr. Eric Morrell, a clinical psychologist, completed a comprehensive psychological evaluation of father.

Morrell diagnosed father as having paranoid personality disorder with “schizoid and suspected antisocial tendencies.” As a result of that disorder, father views the world around him as being very threatening and, accordingly, father tends to react to situations inappropriately and misinterpret others’ “benign behaviors” and see them as “malignant and manipulative.” He projects blame rather than accepting responsibility for his actions. According to Morrell, there is no effective treatment for father’s personality disorder. In addition to diagnosing paranoid personality disorder, Morrell gave father several “rule out” diagnoses. In other words, Morrell determined that there was a reasonable probability that father had the conditions, but did not have enough information to give a certain diagnosis as to any of them. The “rule out” diagnoses were for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), intermittent explosive disorder, a cognitive disorder caused by multiple head injuries, and alcohol dependence. A person with intermittent explosive disorder is unpredictable and, out of nowhere, can become very violent and angry. According to Morrell, father has a “very threatening verbal style” and is someone with “a significant amount of agitation, anger, and suspiciousness.” Although father had an average intellect and should, therefore, be capable of using good judgment, Morrell also noted father’s significant failures to use good judgment. Morrell pointed out that father’s decision to become sexually involved with a 16-year-old girl at the age of 58 is an example of “deplorable” judgment.

[711]*711As a result of father’s mental health issues, Morrell recommended that L not be placed with father. According to Morrell, although father is protective of and loyal to L, “given his personality-disordered features, volatility, social impairment and itinerant history,” father would not be suitable as a primary caregiver for L. Morrell opined that the possibility that L might be placed with a suitable relative “would allow for the child to have exposure to the positive qualities [father] can offer, while giving her a safer, steadily protective, and healthier full-spectrum environment in which to be raised.” With respect to services, Morrell opined that father would not respond well. He stated that “[m]ental health intervention would invariably be low yield, and thus is not recommended.” However, Morrell stated that parenting training might “potentially provide benefits, as it is more educational in nature and presumably less threatening.” Morrell did not “recommend it for the purposes of reunification because [he] just [did not] think [father] would be an appropriate placement resource.” Instead, he saw parenting classes as a service that could “instill in [father] a little bit of * * * gentility and some skills in any interactions he might have with his daughter.”

At the time of the evaluation, Morrell had been provided with a psychological evaluation of father completed in 2001 by Dr. Grant Rawlins. Rawlins’s report is relatively consistent with Morrell’s assessment. Rawlins diagnosed father as having intermittent explosive disorder and noted father’s “irritable and aggressive” attitude and uncooperativeness in the testing process. According to Rawlins, father exhibited “poor social judgment, impulsivity, and * * * probable brain damage” that might be related to his “impulsivity and difficulty with control of his anger.” Rawlins also diagnosed father with a severe personality disorder “with schizoid, antisocial and paranoid traits.”

The testimony of father’s adult daughter, Dysart, was consistent with Morrell’s assessments of father. According to Dysart, father would frequently get angry, becoming “irate” and “scream and yell.” She described that father would “rant about wars and killing people and knives and some pretty harsh things.” When talking with Dysart, father threatened violence to the social worker on L’s case as well as the social worker’s child and his own prior attorney. His [712]*712threats ranged from “physically hurting people, to shooting people, to using * * * some sort of combat * * * thing.” According to Dysart, when challenged, father would “blow up” and scream and use obscenities. She also described that he would become ranting and loud even with children present. As a result of father’s anger and hostility, Dysart testified that she had not spoken to father for several months before the permanency hearing.

DHS staff that worked on this case confirmed that father was frequently angry and difficult to deal with and that, when angry, father could become threatening.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
282 P.3d 901, 250 Or. App. 708, 2012 WL 2403555, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/department-of-human-services-v-s-n-orctapp-2012.