People ex rel. O.C.

2012 COA 161, 312 P.3d 226, 2012 WL 4451000, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 1569
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 27, 2012
DocketNo. 12CA0649
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2012 COA 161 (People ex rel. O.C.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People ex rel. O.C., 2012 COA 161, 312 P.3d 226, 2012 WL 4451000, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 1569 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge TERRY.

¶ 1 In this dependency and neglect proceeding concerning O0.C. (the child), ChM., the child's maternal grandfather (grandfa ther), and Ca.M., the child's maternal step-grandmother (grandmother), appeal from the order denying their motion to intervene. They contend that as grandparents, they have the right to intervene under section 19-3-507(5)(a), C.R.S.2012, and that the district court erred in denying them that right. We agree, and therefore reverse and remand.

I. Background

¶ 2 O.C. was removed from the care of Je.C. (mother) and Ju.C. (father) in May 2010, approximately seven weeks after her birth, because of concerns that mother, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was not adequately caring for 0.C. An older child, two-year-old B.C., had been removed from mother's care five months earlier because of concerns about possible physical abuse.

¶ 3 The Jefferson County Division of Children, Youth, and Families (the County) initially allowed 0.C. to remain in the care of a family friend while mother worked on her treatment plan. O.C. was moved to a foster [228]*228home after concerns were raised about the friend's use of marijuana while caring for her.

¶ 4 Grandfather and grandmother first sought to become involved in the proceeding in October 2010, when they moved to intervene under C.R.C.P. 24(a) and (b) and requested that both children be placed with them. The County opposed the motion, arguing that the grandparents did not meet the criteria to intervene as a matter of right under section 19-3-507(5)(a), and the trial court denied the motion.

¶ 5 In July 2011, the County moved to place 0.C. with grandfather, but withdrew the motion soon thereafter, alleging that grandfather had been "unable to make a commitment to caring for [0.CG.]." Grandfather responded with a request to be made a special respondent, asserting that he wanted to be a party to the case and to have both children placed with him. The court construed grandfather's motion as a motion to intervene, found that grandfather did not satisfy the requirements of section 19-3-507(5)(a) and therefore was not entitled to intervene as a matter of right, and denied the motion.

¶ 6 In January 2012, the County moved to terminate both parents' parental rights with respect to 0.0. The grandparents again sought to intervene. The court denied their motion, and they now appeal that denial.

II. Jurisdiction

¶ 7 Both the County and the Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) contend that the order denying the grandparents' motion to intervene is not a final order and, thus, is not properly before this court on appeal. We disagree.

¶ 8 Generally, for the purpose of appeal, a final order or judgment "is one that ends the particular action, leaving nothing further to be done to determine the rights of the involved parties completely." People in Interest of H.R., 883 P.2d 619, 620 (Colo.App.1994). In a dependency and neglect proceeding, post-dispositional orders that do not terminate a parent's custodial rights are generally held not to be final and appealable. Id. (citing E.O. v. People, 854 P.2d 797, 801 (Colo.1993) (post-dispositional order approving amended treatment plan); People in Interest of P.L.B., 743 P.2d 980, 982 (Colo.App.1987) (order modifying out-of-home placement); and People in Interest of K.L., 681 P.2d 535, 536 (Colo.App.1984) (order continuing out-of-home placement)).

¶ 9 The order denying the grandparents' motion to intervene did not end the dependency and neglect action, nor did it terminate either parent's custodial rights. However, our inquiry into the finality of the order does not end here, because the Colorado Supreme Court has held that "[t] he denial of a motion to intervene as a matter of right is a final and appealable order." Feigin v. Alexa Group, Ltd., 19 P.3d 23, 26 (Colo.2001).

¶ 10 In Feigin, nonparties sought to intervene in a civil case under CRCP. 24(@a), which provides that upon timely application anyone may intervene

(1) [when a statute confers an unconditional right to intervene; or
(2) when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest, unless [his] interest is adequately represented by existing parties.

The County and the GAL argue that the holding of Feigin does not apply in this case because C.R.C.P. 24 does not apply in a dependency and neglect proceeding, or, alternatively, because the grandparents do not meet the "substantive requirements for intervention" under C.R.C.P. 24(a) We reject both arguments.

¶ 11 At oral argument, the County cited People in Interest of M.D.C.M., 34 Colo.App. 91, 522 P.2d 1234 (1974), for the proposition that C.R.C.P. 24(a) does not authorize intervention in a dependency and neglect proceeding. However, the M.D.C.M. division held that foster parents who had custody of a child for "a substantial number of months" were entitled to become parties at the dispo-sitional stage of the proceeding, and thus, [229]*229were properly permitted to intervene under C.R.C.P. 24. 34 Colo.App. at 95, 522 P.2d at 1237. In reaching this conclusion, the M.D.C.M. division noted that the Children's Code "expressly contemplates the active participation of 'interested parties' at the dispo-sitional hearing." Id. at 94, 522 P.2d at 12836. The division concluded that

the Code, read as a whole, anticipates that those having custodial experience with the child have sufficient interest, knowledge, and concern relative to the child to bring them within the classification of "interested parties' and thus they are entitled, upon application, to intervene as a matter of right in the dispositional hearing.

Id. at 94-95, 522 P.2d at 1287.

T 12 In People in Interest of C.P., 84 Colo. App. 54, 58-59, 524 P.2d 816, 819-20 (1974), another division of this court held that a grandmother was an "interested party" who was entitled to intervene as a matter of right at the dispositional stage in a dependency and neglect proceeding. The CP. division cited provisions of the Children's Code authorizing the trial court to give custody of a dependent and neglected child to a relative as a basis for its conclusion.

{13 As M.C.D.M. and C.P. show, Colorado courts have long recognized the right of "interested parties" to intervene in a dependency and neglect proceeding under C.R.C.P. 24(a).

114 The GAL argues, nevertheless, that the denial of the grandparents' motion to intervene is not a final order because they do not meet the "substantive requirements" for intervention under either C.R.C.P. 24(a)(1) or (2). That argument begs the very question posed in this appeal: whether the grandparents have the right to intervene. We conclude that under Feigin, an order denying intervention to a party seeking to intervene as a matter of right must be treated as a final, appealable order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 COA 161, 312 P.3d 226, 2012 WL 4451000, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 1569, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-ex-rel-oc-coloctapp-2012.