In Re Dependency of TLG

156 P.3d 222
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 19, 2007
Docket57862-6-I, 57863-4-I, 57864-2-I, 57865-1-I, 58560-6-I, 58561-4-I
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 156 P.3d 222 (In Re Dependency of TLG) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Dependency of TLG, 156 P.3d 222 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

156 P.3d 222 (2007)

In the Matter of the DEPENDENCY of T.L.G., b.d. 04/20/99, and C.L.G., b.d. 05/22/00, Minor Children.
Bonnie Lee Dunlavy and William Keith Gilfillen, Petitioners,
v.
State of Washington, Department of Social and Health Services, Respondent.

Nos. 57862-6-I, 57863-4-I, 57864-2-I, 57865-1-I, 58560-6-I, 58561-4-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

January 16, 2007.
Publication Ordered April 19, 2007.

*223 Christopher Gibson, Nielsen Broman Koch PLLC, Seattle, for Appellant Bonnie Dunlavy.

Elaine L. Winters, Washington Appellate Project, Seattle, WA, for Appellant William Keith Gilfillen.

Kathryn Ann Kamel, Michael Scott Majors, Office of Attorney General, Everett, WA, for Respondent.

Leila Kawar Goldsmith, Attorney at Law, Stanwood, WA, for Guardian Ad Litem.

AGID, J.

¶ 1 William Keith Gilfillen and Bonnie Lee Dunlavy challenge the juvenile court's suspension of visitation with their dependent children on two grounds: (1) RCW 13.34.136(1)(b)(ii) entitles them to visitation absent a showing of risk to their children's health, safety or welfare; and (2) visitation cannot be used as a sanction for failure to comply with court orders or services.

¶ 2 Visitation between these parents and their children was suspended in 2002 after an altercation between Gilfillen and a security guard during a scheduled visit in the presence of T.L.G. The legislature amended RCW 13.34.136(1)(b)(ii) in 2004, strengthening parents' rights to visitation with their dependent children. The statute requires *224 the agency to encourage maximum parent and child contact and prohibits it from limiting or denying visitation as a sanction or without a showing of risk of harm. The record in this case establishes that neither the State nor the court below attempted to structure supervised visitation of any kind. There is no proof that there is a risk to these children in all visitation settings. And it appears from the record that visitation remains suspended because the parents did not obtain all court-ordered services even though the statute prohibits a court from limiting or denying visitation for failure to comply with orders or services. Thus, the juvenile court misapplied RCW 13.34.136(1)(b)(ii) when it denied all visitation based on the parents' failure to obtain court-ordered services by failing to find there is a current risk of harm to the children in all visitation settings.

¶ 3 Gilfillen also challenges the orders prohibiting him from disseminating any documents, reports and orders without permission of the court and notice to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and his children's volunteer guardian ad litem (VGAL). Nothing in the record indicates why such a broad order is necessary, although there are references to protecting the children's privacy. In light of the published case, In re Dependency of T.L.G.,[1] which reversed a termination order against the parents, it is unclear from the record why such a broad order, which seems to include Gilfillen's own medical records, is necessary. We reverse.

FACTS

¶ 4 This is Dunlavy's and Gilfillen's second appeal to this court. In May 2005, we decided In re Dependency of T.L.G. We reversed an order terminating their parental rights and remanded for further proceedings.[2] This appeal follows the dependency hearings on remand.

¶ 5 William Keith Gilfillen and Bonnie Lee Dunlavy are the parents of daughter T.L.G. (born 4/20/99) and son C.L.G. (born 5/22/00). C.L.G. was born with serious medical problems. Both parents entered into voluntary contracts for assistance with the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), which provided for public health nurse visits, therapeutic day care for both children, and an intensive family preservation services (FPS) therapist.[3] In August 2001, Dunlavy and Gilfillen refused to sign further voluntary contracts. DSHS filed a dependency petition on both children and removed them from the home because of three concerns: C.L.G. was exhibiting significant growth problems, T.L.G. was exhibiting signs of emotional delay, and the family was facing eviction.[4] The initial shelter care order entered August 2001 provided supervised visitation once a week at the DSHS office in Everett and required the parents to get psychological evaluations and training to care for C.L.G.'s medical needs.[5] In November 2001, Dunlavy and Gilfillen moved to an appropriate home on Whidbey Island, where rooms were made ready for the children's return.[6]

January 2002 Dependency Order

¶ 6 In January 2002, Dunlavy and Gilfillen signed an agreed dependency order, acknowledging their children's special needs and their own need to address problems with anxiety and depression.[7] The order granted weekly supervised visitation between T.L.G. and both parents for a minimum of two hours. The court gave DSHS and the children's VGAL the discretion to liberalize Dunlavy's visits with both children. It also granted Gilfillen supervised visitation with C.L.G. once paternity had been established.

¶ 7 Later that month, there was a verbal and physical altercation between Gilfillen and a security guard at the DSHS office while *225 Dunlavy was holding T.L.G.[8] After this incident, all visitation was suspended on the grounds that Gilfillen and Dunlavy needed anger management treatment, and the visitation supervisor refused to continue to work with the family.[9]

April 2002 Dependency Disposition

¶ 8 In April 2002, the court suspended visitation and entered a disposition order requiring parenting classes and a psychological evaluation with a parenting component for both parents.[10] The order did not include findings that visitation would harm the children. Both parents completed parenting classes at Catholic Community Services.[11] But the psychological evaluations were delayed because the parties could not agree on a service provider and the parents had problems getting from Whidbey Island to the evaluator's office.

July 2003 Order

¶ 9 In July 2003, the court struck the requirement that the evaluations contain a parenting component, but ordered the evaluator to determine whether a parenting component was necessary.[12] Visitation remained suspended, but the court stated it would "reconsider the issue of visitation upon receipt of the parents' psychological evaluations."

Termination Proceedings and March 2005 Appeal

¶ 10 January 2, 2004, the court terminated Gilfillen and Dunlavy's parental rights to both children.[13] In In re Dependency of T.L.G. we reversed the termination on March 7, 2005, holding that DSHS failed to (1) identify parental deficiencies that needed to be corrected or connect the parents' mental health deficiencies to parental deficiencies, (2) prove that family reunification could not occur within the foreseeable future, and (3) establish by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the parents were offered all reasonably available services necessary to correct parental deficiencies and that there was little likelihood conditions would be remedied in the near future.[14]

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Bluebook (online)
156 P.3d 222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-dependency-of-tlg-washctapp-2007.