State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. L.B. & N. A. M.

226 P.3d 66, 233 Or. App. 360, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 61
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJanuary 27, 2010
DocketJ070628; Petition Number 01J070628; A138333
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 226 P.3d 66 (State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. L.B. & N. A. M.) 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. Juvenile Department v. L.B. & N. A. M., 226 P.3d 66, 233 Or. App. 360, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 61 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

WOLLHEIM, P. J.

Mother and father appeal a juvenile court judgment that established dependency jurisdiction over their two-month-old child. The court took jurisdiction on the ground that conditions and circumstances — which produced a serious unexplained injury to child’s leg — endangered her welfare. The court later dismissed jurisdiction, but mother and father contend that the court never should have asserted jurisdiction in the first place. The Department of Human Services (DHS) responds that the case is now moot, but that the court properly asserted jurisdiction over child. We agree with father and mother that the case is not moot, given the collateral consequences of the court’s judgment asserting jurisdiction, but we agree with DHS that that judgment should be affirmed.

We begin with the question of justiciability. The juvenile court took jurisdiction over child in February 2008, and mother and father appealed. In June 2008, the juvenile court dismissed the case, on the ground that “reasonable * * * efforts, in light of [child’s] and [her parents’] circumstances, have been made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the [child] from the home and to make it possible for [child] to safely return home * * *.” Then, in August 2008, DHS moved to dismiss this appeal as moot, based on the June order dismissing the case. DHS argued that, because the case was ultimately dismissed, a decision regarding the earlier judgment asserting jurisdiction “would no longer have a practical effect on the rights of the appealing parties.” See Corey v. DLCD, 344 Or 457, 464, 184 P3d 1109 (2008) (“If it becomes clear in the course of a judicial proceeding that resolving the merits of a claim will have no practical effect on the rights of the parties, this court will dismiss the claim as moot.”); Yancy v. Shatzer, 337 Or 345, 349, 97 P3d 1161 (2004); Brumnett v. PSRB, 315 Or 402, 405, 848 P2d 1194 (1993) (a justiciable controversy exists when “the interests of the parties to the action are adverse” and “the court’s decision in the matter will have some practical effect on the rights of the parties to the controversy”).

Mother and father opposed DHS’s motion to dismiss, contending that “the jurisdictional finding of the Court [363]*363remains a matter of record.” They argued, among other things, that father has suffered and will continue to suffer adverse employment consequences as a result of the finding of jurisdiction; that mother and father would be restricted in their involvement in child’s life as far as activities at school, such as accompanying child on field trips; and that the jurisdictional finding and underlying DHS administrative findings would be used against them if there were any need in the future for DHS to intervene.

The Appellate Commissioner denied DHS’s motion to dismiss on the ground that mother and father “have shown that there are collateral consequences to the trial court’s determination that the petition invoking the juvenile court’s jurisdiction was well-taken.” DHS sought reconsideration of the Appellate Commissioner’s order, and, on reconsideration, the Chief Judge adhered to the Appellate Commissioner’s order:

“Upon review, it is clear the original order was correct. [Mother and father] have demonstrated collateral consequences to the juvenile court’s judgment that are significant in number and scope. In light of those consequences, a decision from this court will continue to have a practical effect and, for that reason, the case is not moot.”

In response to mother’s and father’s opening briefs, DHS renewed its arguments regarding mootness, and, following oral argument, this court allowed mother and father to supplement the record with further evidence and argument as to why this case still presents a live controversy. For the reasons that follow, we agree with the previous orders in this case determining that the case is not moot.

In an affidavit submitted to this court, father avers that he has suffered adverse employment consequences as a result of the judgment taking jurisdiction over child. Father is a project manager who works with corporations that contract with the federal government. Those contracts, father states, require him to obtain high level security clearances. Before the juvenile court took jurisdiction in this case, father had never failed a security clearance. However, father has since failed a security clearance for a corporation for whom he has worked on previous occasions. According to father, the [364]*364juvenile court’s assertion of jurisdiction is the “only incident or involvement in which I have been entangled that could conceivably or possibly have any impact on my denial of security clearance”; father contacted someone “affiliated with” that corporation and was informed that “child abusers don’t receive the highest level of security clearances.” Father’s affidavit, though not as detailed as it could be, nevertheless gives rise to reasonable inferences that the juvenile court’s initial judgment has had — and will continue to have — collateral effects on father’s employment prospects.

What is equally — perhaps, more — significant is the effect that the juvenile court’s judgment continues to have with respect to any future investigation of child’s circumstances or those of mother or father. In the event that DHS were to receive a report of child abuse, the department would be required by statute to “[c]ause an investigation to be made to determine the nature and cause of the abuse of the child[.]” ORS 419B.020(l)(a). In conducting that investigation, Child Protective Services (CPS) reviews “historical information on the family and the child that may be useful in completing the CPS assessment.” OAR413-015-0415(l)(a)(B). That includes a review of any “[hjistory or a pattern of abuse or neglect,” OAR 413-015-0415(l)(b)(B), which would include any previous “founded” abuse disposition.

Father and mother contend that, unless this court reverses the juvenile court’s order asserting jurisdiction in this case, they have no way of challenging the underlying administrative findings by DHS. That appears to be the case. Under DHS’s own rules, the agency will not review a “CPS founded disposition” if the juvenile court’s findings are consistent with the founded disposition. See, e.g., OAR 413-010-0723 (“If a requestor inquires about a review of a CPS founded disposition and there is a legal finding consistent with the CPS founded disposition, the local Child Welfare office staff must prepare and deliver a ‘Notice of Legal Finding’ (Form CF 318) that informs the requestor that the Department will not review the disposition.”). Here, the juvenile court found that child sustained serious, unexplained injuries and that child was endangered by conditions and circumstances in the parents’ home. Although the juvenile court later dismissed jurisdiction on the ground that the conditions [365]*365and circumstances no longer endangered child, the court did not disturb the findings in its previous judgment asserting jurisdiction. Thus, the juvenile court’s judgment asserting jurisdiction, as well as any concomitant DHS findings regarding abuse or neglect, negatively affect father’s and mother’s record with the department.

Finally, mother and father contend that they have suffered and will suffer a social stigma associated with having their child removed from their care based on allegations of abuse or neglect. Cf. State v. Linde,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
226 P.3d 66, 233 Or. App. 360, 2010 Ore. App. LEXIS 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-juvenile-department-v-lb-n-a-m-orctapp-2010.