Dept. of Human Services v. W. C. T.

501 P.3d 44, 314 Or. App. 743
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 29, 2021
DocketA174195
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 501 P.3d 44 (Dept. of Human Services v. W. C. T.) 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
Dept. of Human Services v. W. C. T., 501 P.3d 44, 314 Or. App. 743 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Argued and submitted December 31, 2020, resubmitted en banc June 9; juris- dictional judgment affirmed, dispositional judgment affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part September 29, 2021

In the Matter of R. M. T., a Child. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Petitioner-Respondent, v. W. C. T. and L. M., aka L. K. M., Appellants. Grant County Circuit Court 20JU02201; A174195 (Control), A174197 501 P3d 44

In consolidated appeals, mother and father appeal judgments of jurisdiction and disposition. The juvenile court took jurisdiction over parents’ daughter and directed parents to cooperate in the plan for reunification. Mother and father assert ten assignments of error in the decision to take dependency jurisdiction. Both parents assign error to the court’s order that they participate in psycho- logical evaluations, arguing that a line of cases relying on ORS 419B.337(2) as authority for such evaluations should be overruled as plainly wrong and that under their preferred statutory authority, ORS 419B.387, the juvenile court failed to justify psychological exams as a component of treatment or training by tying the exams to substance abuse. In addition, mother assigns error to the court’s order that she engage in consistent visitation, obtain safe and stable hous- ing, sign information releases, and complete a “protective capacity assessment.” Held: The line of cases relying on ORS 419B.337(2) and ORS 419B.343(1)(a) as authority for the juvenile court to order parent participation in psychological evaluations was not plainly wrong and could be harmonized with recent cases involving ORS 419B.387. After an evidentiary hearing, a juvenile court may order a psychological evaluation when finding that (a) the evaluation is rationally related to the jurisdictional findings, (b) it serves as a predicate component to the determination of treatment and training, (c) there is a need for treatment or training to ameliorate the jurisdictional findings or to facilitate the child’s return, and (d) the parent’s participation in needed treatment or training is in the best interests of the child. The Court of Appeals affirmed the jurisdictional judgment and affirmed the dispositional judgment as to mother. However, the court agreed with father that the juvenile court erred in directing him to partic- ipate in a psychological evaluation and reversed and remanded that part of the dispositional judgment. Jurisdictional judgment affirmed; dispositional judgment affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part. 744 Dept. of Human Services v. W. C. T.

En Banc W. D. Cramer, Jr., Judge. Sarah Peterson, Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant L. M. Also on the briefs was Shannon Storey, Chief Defender, Juvenile Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services. Aron Perez-Selsky filed the brief for appellant W. C. T. Inge D. Wells argued the cause for respondent. On the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General, and Jon Zunkel-deCoursey, Assistant Attorney General. Before Egan, Chief Judge, and Armstrong, Ortega, DeVore, Lagesen, Tookey, DeHoog, Shorr, James, Aoyagi, Powers, Mooney, and Kamins, Judges. DeVORE, J. Jurisdictional judgment affirmed; dispositional judg- ment affirmed in part, reversed and remanded in part. DeVore, J., filed the opinion of the court in which Armstrong, Tookey, DeHoog, Shorr, Powers, and Kamins, JJ., joined. Mooney, J., concurred in part and dissented in part and filed an opinion in which Egan, C. J., Ortega, Lagesen, James, and Aoyagi, JJ., joined. Cite as 314 Or App 743 (2021) 745

DeVORE, J. In consolidated appeals, mother and father appeal judgments of jurisdiction and disposition. The juvenile court took jurisdiction over parents’ daughter, R, and directed parents to cooperate in the plan for reunification. Mother and father assert 10 assignments of error in the decision to take dependency jurisdiction. Both parents assign error to the court’s order that they participate in psychological evaluations and urge that one of two lines of authority for such evaluations should be overruled as plainly wrong. In addition, mother assigns error to the court’s order that she engage in consistent visitation, obtain safe and stable hous- ing, sign information releases, and complete a “protective capacity assessment.” We have differing opinions whether to overrule or harmonize our cases. A concurring and dissenting opinion would overrule, while this majority opinion harmonizes cases, encouraged by the doctrine of stare decisis. We hold that, after an evidentiary hearing, a juvenile court may order a psychological evaluation when finding that (a) the evaluation is rationally related to the jurisdictional findings, (b) it serves as a predicate component to the determination of treatment and training, (c) there is a need for treatment or training to ameliorate the jurisdictional findings or to facilitate the child’s return, and (d) the parent’s participa- tion in needed treatment or training is in the best interests of the child. We affirm the jurisdictional judgment, and we affirm the dispositional judgment as to mother. However, we agree with father that the juvenile court erred in direct- ing him to participate in a psychological evaluation, and we reverse and remand that part of the dispositional judgment. I. FACTS We review the juvenile court’s factual findings for any evidence and its legal conclusions for errors of law. Dept. of Human Services v. A. F., 295 Or App 69, 71, 433 P3d 459 (2018). Mother gave birth to R two months prematurely in August 2009. R suffered continuous developmental delays. When she entered kindergarten in 2014, R was “very far 746 Dept. of Human Services v. W. C. T.

behind.” A learning disability necessitated an individual- ized education plan (IEP). She has an IQ of 69 and is clas- sified as intellectually disabled. At the time of trial in late May and early June 2020, R was 10 years old and in the fourth grade, but her writing and math skills were around a first-grade level. In January 2020, the school had updated R’s IEP, but neither mother nor father participated. Mother did not respond to the school’s invitation, and the school did not know father was in R’s life. Her special education teacher testified that R was often tired and had difficulty focusing or engaging. Mother believed that R suffered from sleep apnea. The teacher, who had never met mother, testified that, when a parent is not engaged, the children struggle with academic, social, emotional, and insecurity issues. The juvenile court previously took jurisdiction as to R in 2014 on the admitted allegations of the Department of Human Services (DHS) as to each parent’s history of substance abuse, father’s criminal history, father’s impul- sive behavior, and mother’s allowing a person with violent behavior to have unsupervised contact with R. After mother engaged in a treatment program, the court returned R to mother in February 2016. In 2018 and 2019, Frost, a DHS employee, attempted to visit mother. Mother refused to provide urine samples and refused to allow Frost access to her home. Frost left her business card three or four times, and she left telephone voice-messages, but the calls were not returned. In summer 2019, R and her parents lived in a “super tiny” trailer.

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Bluebook (online)
501 P.3d 44, 314 Or. App. 743, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dept-of-human-services-v-w-c-t-orctapp-2021.