Dep't of Human Servs. v. J. E. R. (In re D. R.)

429 P.3d 420, 293 Or. App. 387
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 15, 2018
DocketA166514 (Control); A166515; A166516
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 429 P.3d 420 (Dep't of Human Servs. v. J. E. R. (In re D. R.)) 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
Dep't of Human Servs. v. J. E. R. (In re D. R.), 429 P.3d 420, 293 Or. App. 387 (Or. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

SHORR, J.

*422*389In this consolidated juvenile dependency case, mother appeals from three permanency judgments that changed the permanency plans for mother's children (C, D, and E) from reunification to adoption.1 Mother contends that the juvenile court erred in changing the permanency plans because the court determined whether DHS's efforts were reasonable based, in large part, on DHS's efforts that occurred before the juvenile court announced the basis for jurisdiction and entered dispositional orders. During that prejurisdiction period, mother was unwilling to participate in the services requested by DHS until the court announced the services that mother was required to complete to ameliorate the basis for jurisdiction. Mother maintains that, until jurisdictional and dispositional judgments were entered and she knew which services she was required to complete, the juvenile court could not adequately assess whether DHS's efforts were reasonable to assist mother in ameliorating the basis for jurisdiction. Mother further contends that the juvenile court erred to the extent that it concluded that DHS made reasonable efforts to return the children home during the five-month period after jurisdiction. We agree with mother that, at least based on the circumstances presented in this case, the trial court erred in concluding that DHS made reasonable efforts to safely return her children to her. Accordingly, we reverse the juvenile court's permanency judgments.

The following facts are either procedural or uncontested. This case concerns C, D, and E, who, at the time of the dependency hearing, were nine, seven, and five, respectively. DHS had been involved with mother and her children before the current proceedings that gave rise to this appeal. The juvenile court initially obtained jurisdiction over the children in 2014. The court dismissed jurisdiction in May 2016.

Around that time and into July 2016, DHS began to receive reports that raised concerns about the children's *390safety. Among other things, there were reports that mother was leaving the children unattended at home while she worked 28 to 32 hours a week at a local grocery store. DHS assessed that the children had significant behavioral issues and mental health needs that required constant supervision to ensure their safety. At times, mother left the children with her domestic partner. There were also reports that mother and her partner engaged in inappropriate disciplinary techniques with the children.

DHS filed a dependency petition on July 26, 2016, that alleged that the juvenile court had jurisdiction over the children based on a number of allegations against mother. Following a shelter hearing, the juvenile court authorized DHS to remove the children, and DHS placed them in foster care. In the meantime, one of the children disclosed in September 2016 that mother's partner had sexually abused her while she and the other children were in mother's care.

The juvenile court originally scheduled a hearing on DHS's dependency petition for September 13, 2016. The hearing was set over several times and eventually rescheduled for November 28, 2016. On the first day of that hearing, the parties informed the court that mother had agreed to admit that she "lacks the parenting skills to safely parent the child[ren]" in exchange for DHS's dismissal of the remaining jurisdictional allegations against her. The court accepted mother's admission, but did not enter any judgments of jurisdiction or disposition. Among other things, DHS and mother could not agree on whether mother should be required to submit to a psychological evaluation.

The juvenile court held a dispositional hearing on March 9, 2017. The court issued a letter opinion a few weeks after that hearing and then entered a judgment of jurisdiction and disposition on April 24, 2017, that took jurisdiction over the children and required that mother comply with all DHS recommendations, including a psychological evaluation. In all, there was approximately nine months between the filing of the dependency petitions on July 26, 2016, and the entry of the *423judgments of jurisdiction and disposition on April 24, 2017. As noted above, mother refused to participate in the services offered by DHS for that nine-month *391period and asserted that she was not required to do so until the court decided what services were to be required of her to ameliorate the basis for jurisdiction.

On May 2, 2017, DHS met with mother and provided her with a written "action agreement" that detailed "the changes needed in parental protective capacity" and the "specific actions to be taken over the next 90 days." By all accounts, mother began engaging in the DHS-recommended services after the entry of the judgments of jurisdiction and disposition. Among other things, on June 1, 2017, she began individualized family sexual abuse treatment (for a nonoffender) with her mental health counselor Rebecca Carroll who "absolutely" observed progress in mother during regular sessions from June 2017 forward. Mother also submitted to a psychological evaluation with Daniel Munoz, Ph.D., on June 13, 2017. Munoz conducted a follow-up feedback session with mother, her counsel, and the DHS caseworker on July 18, 2017. Munoz outlined his diagnoses and recommendations, including his recommendation that mother engage in dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT) for an unspecified personality disorder. Munoz believed that DBT programs take at least six months, but "full fidelity DBT" typically lasts for a year.

The caseworker initially had problems finding a certified local DBT provider, but ultimately located Jackie Tasker, the only DBT-certified therapist in the county. Mother began participating in weekly group DBT sessions with Tasker on August 28, 2017. Mother's existing therapist Carroll, who had some training in DBT, recommended that mother start individual DBT therapy with Tasker after Carroll and mother completed their on-going sessions. Tasker's DBT program lasts 24 weeks, but she will repeat it with a client. Meanwhile, the children were in therapeutic foster care in Douglas County and involved in their own individual therapy sessions.

The juvenile court proceeded with permanency hearings on September 19 and 26, 2017, approximately five months after the court's judgment of jurisdiction and disposition. DHS acknowledged that mother was doing well in services but moved the court to change the plan from *392reunification to adoption. DHS was "concerned that even with the progress that mother has started to demonstrate *** she will not, in a reasonable period of time, be able to meet her children's considerable level needs." The children's psychological evaluators believed that all three children required highly skilled caregivers and should not be required to wait longer for permanency.

At the permanency hearing, both the parties and the juvenile court focused on the substantial nine-month delay that had occurred between the filing of the dependency petitions and the judgments of jurisdiction and disposition.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
429 P.3d 420, 293 Or. App. 387, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dept-of-human-servs-v-j-e-r-in-re-d-r-orctapp-2018.