State ex rel. Department of Human Services v. R. O. W.

168 P.3d 322, 215 Or. App. 83, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1309
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedSeptember 19, 2007
Docket06JU112RW; 0400510; A134799
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 168 P.3d 322 (State ex rel. Department of Human Services v. R. O. W.) 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
State ex rel. Department of Human Services v. R. O. W., 168 P.3d 322, 215 Or. App. 83, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1309 (Or. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

ROSENBLUM, J.

Mother and father appeal a judgment terminating their parental rights to their child, S. They argue that the state failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that they were unfit to parent at the time of the termination proceeding. Mother also contends that DHS did not make reasonable efforts to reunify the family. We review de novo, ORS 419A.200, and conclude that the state presented clear and convincing evidence that mother is unfit to parent by reason of her mental defect. We also conclude that clear and convincing evidence demonstrates that father is unable to protect S from the dangers she faces in mother’s care and that, despite the state’s reasonable efforts, he has failed to make a lasting adjustment to that condition. Although parents presented a plan on the day of the termination trial that mother and S will be supervised by relatives, that plan will not ensure that S is never left alone with mother. Thus, integration of the child into parents’ home is unlikely within a reasonable amount of time. We also conclude that termination is in S’s best interests. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

We take the facts from the evidence presented at the termination hearing. In August 2004, a few weeks before the birth of S, the Department of Human Services (DHS) received a report from an unnamed source that mother was pregnant and that both she and father lacked the cognitive abilities to care for a newborn infant. When caseworker Susan Brugato arrived at parents’ home to investigate the report, she had difficulty finding the front door because the yard was so cluttered with debris. She eventually found a path to the door near a small dog pen containing “lots of feces, and urine, and no dog food or water.” The dog inside the pen was “very thin and skinny,” and its food and water bowls were covered with cobwebs.1 When she entered the home, Brugato was “immediately able to tell [that the home] was not within community standards for the health and safety of a child” because it was so dirty and cluttered that Brugato [86]*86could not see any windows or furniture, let alone walk through the house.

Brugato identified herself and told mother about the report. During their conversation, it became clear that mother was “very low functioning” and that Brugato would need to speak with father. Brugato left mother her card and asked her to have father call when he arrived home from work. When father called later that day, Brugato explained that the home was not safe for an infant and expressed concern about mother’s ability to parent. Although father acknowledged the dismal condition of the home and told Brugato that they were planning to move, he “was not concerned” about the potential effect of mother’s cognitive limitations on her ability to care for an infant and “didn’t see an issue with having [mother] alone with a brand new baby.” Brugato informed father that DHS would hold a team decision meeting to discuss whether mother could care for an infant, and she encouraged him to invite family members to that meeting. Father told Brugato that he would invite his mother and his grandmother.

The first team decision meeting was held the next day. None of father’s or mother’s family members attended. At that meeting, Brugato again explained to father why she was concerned about mother’s ability to care for the couple’s child, and father again insisted that he “did not see any issues with [mother] being alone with [S] all day long.” Brugato asked mother and father to formulate a safety plan to ensure that someone would be available to assist mother on a full-time basis. Father agreed to call his grandmother to ask whether parents could live with her for an undetermined time as part of their agreement that they would find stable and adequate housing.2 Father also told Brugato that his father and a parenting coach, Lorae Viars, would supervise mother. When Brugato contacted father’s father and Viars, they both told her that they were unable to assist mother full time.

A second team decision meeting was held soon after the first because no one from parents’ families had attended [87]*87the first meeting. Although Viars and father’s father both attended that second meeting, father’s mother and grandmother again did not. Despite their earlier acknowledgment of the need to find suitable housing in advance of their child’s birth, parents had failed to formulate a safe childcare plan, and father continued to deny that mother needed assistance to care for the child. Brugato informed father that, unless mother and the baby moved to a maternity home where mother could learn the skills necessary to care for a newborn infant, DHS would place S in foster care to ensure her safety.

When S was bom in August 2004, DHS filed a dependency petition. The petition alleged that mother’s developmental disabilities impair her ability to safely parent the child, that father’s ability to safely parent the child was unknown but that he had mental health issues that affected his ability to parent, that the home was unsafe for a child, and that parents had failed to develop a plan to ensure the child’s safety after her birth. The juvenile court granted DHS temporary custody of S, and father entered into a service agreement that included a substance abuse evaluation and a psychological evaluation.3

Psychologist Dr. David Sweet evaluated mother and diagnosed her with mild mental retardation, estimating that her cognitive capabilities are those of less than a 10- or 12-year-old child. Sweet also diagnosed mother with a dependent personality disorder. As a result of those conditions, she is “extremely dependent on other people” and “can’t manage things adequately on her [own] on a daily basis. She needs people to be there [to] take care of her.” Sweet recommended that mother and father enroll in one-on-one parenting training and noted that, “[a]t some point, if she is able to acquire adequate skills, she may become an adequate parent.”

After mother left the hospital with S, they moved into the Safe Haven Maternity Home. Over the next month, several social service providers worked with mother in an attempt to help her learn how to care for S. Despite the efforts of the staff, mother was unable to learn to care for the [88]*88child. For instance, Safe Haven house mother Barbara Hastings attempted to teach mother how to bathe S, yet mother was unable to keep S safe during bath time. Hastings had to frequently remind mother not to let go of S in the bath, and she once had to physically intervene so the child “wouldn’t slide into the water.” Family resource worker Karen Gould similarly was unable to teach mother how to nurture, bathe, and feed S, and community health nurse Wendy Zyzniewski unsuccessfully attempted to train mother to recognize and respond to S’s cues. Because mother was unable to learn the skills necessary to safely care for an infant, Hastings, Zyzniewski, and Gould agreed that mother needs constant supervision to avoid placing S’s life and health in danger.

Mother’s cognitive deficiencies also affected her ability to bond with S.

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State Ex Rel. Juv. Dept. v. Sw
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State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. S. W.
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State Ex Rel. Department of Human Services v. R. T.
209 P.3d 390 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
STATE EX REL. DEPT. OF HUMAN SVS. v. Row
168 P.3d 322 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
168 P.3d 322, 215 Or. App. 83, 2007 Ore. App. LEXIS 1309, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-department-of-human-services-v-r-o-w-orctapp-2007.