State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. Risland

51 P.3d 697, 183 Or. App. 293, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1268
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 14, 2002
Docket2547; A111914; 2547; A113152
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 51 P.3d 697 (State ex rel. Juvenile Department v. Risland) 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. Risland, 51 P.3d 697, 183 Or. App. 293, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1268 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

BREWER, J.

Father and mother appeal from a judgment that established juvenile dependency jurisdiction and included a dispositional order with respect to their nine-year-old son (child). The parents contend that the evidence at the dispositional hearing was insufficient to establish that the Department of Human Services (DHS)1 previously had made reasonable efforts to make it possible for child to safely return home. ORS 419B.340(1). The parents also assert that the trial court improperly relieved DHS of a duty to make further reasonable efforts to reunify the family. ORS 419B.340(5); ORS 419B.470 to ORS 419B.476. Mother separately argues that the order unlawfully deprived her of her parental rights. On de novo review, ORS 419A.200(6)(b), we affirm.

Mother and father have three sons: G, D, and child, who is the youngest. The oldest son, G, lives with father. D was born in 1987 with methamphetamine in his system, and DHS began to provide services for the family at that time. In 1993, father was convicted of and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for several felonies, including drug manufacture, weapons possession, and child neglect. In the same year, mother was convicted of and sentenced to probation for possession of methamphetamine and driving under the influence of intoxicants (DUII). D first was placed outside his parents’ home in 1994. The parents’ marriage was dissolved in 1996.

In 1997, D was assessed by a counselor at Benton County Mental Health (BCMH), who concluded that D had experienced significant domestic violence in the parents’ home, had witnessed a great deal of drug use and, in general, had been exposed to a highly unstable home life. The counselor met with mother and D on a number of occasions between 1997 and 2000. She diagnosed D as having “issues in the top ten percent of the severity of children’s mental illness * * * as far as the complexity of more than one diagnosis and [297]*297ongoing symptoms of the diagnosis staying pretty current and pretty consistent over time.”

In 1998, father was released from prison on his 1993 convictions, subject to three years’ post-prison supervision. Sometime after father’s release, D and child began living with him. In September 1999, father was convicted of fourth-degree assault based on a domestic violence episode involving his girlfriend. D witnessed the incident.

After father’s arrest, D and child were placed with mother. Child’s caseworker described the ensuing period in the boys’ lives as follows:

“During the following months both [boys] started acting out extremely. [D] was barred from the school grounds because of threatening behaviors and he was set up with a tutor[,] which he rarely attended those sessions. He was very impulsive, a great deal of anger. He began hanging out with older kids who were known drug users * * *. At the same time, [child] was having similar compulsive behaviors and a great deal of anger even to the point of assaultiveness. Both [boys] had done some property damage. [Mother] requested that [DHS] help her with the boys because she could not handle these behaviors.”

Child’s behavior at school remained explosive and uncontrollable and, eventually, he was removed from school. In December 1999, child was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. Mother removed child from the hospital against medical advice, at which point the family was referred once again to BCMH for assistance. BCMH arranged for mother and child to see a mental health physician “for medication and medication management.” After some services were provided, mother told the BCMH caseworker that, because of her sons’ violent outbursts, she could not handle them. BCMH and a DHS representative then devised a domestic violence safety plan for mother, primarily to address the children’s having witnessed domestic violence between mother and her boyfriend.

In January 2000, the parents entered into a voluntary custody agreement with DHS. In consideration of the parents’ agreement to place child in DHS custody, DHS [298]*298agreed (1) to “place [child] in a home or facility that is operated by the State or is certified or licensed to care for children,” and (2) “[t]o develop with [the parents] an individualized service plan to provide for [child’s] needs, and services for the family.” Pursuant to the agreement, child was placed in a shelter home on January 6. BCMH continued to provide services to mother and both boys through March, after which it assumed a “consulting role.” In March, child was diagnosed by a psychologist as having “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Disorder of Written Expression and Phonological Disorder, along with stressors including history of domestic violence and chaotic upbringing.” After numerous contacts, the BCMH caseworker concluded that, in spite of mother’s obvious love and concern for her sons, she could not provide “the level of skills necessary to deal” with them. In May, child was moved to a group home.

In May, DHS held a family decision meeting with the parents, their attorneys, child’s grandmother, father’s post-prison supervision officer, child’s DHS caseworker, and child’s foster parent. At that time, the goal for child was reunification with a parent. Mother signed a service agreement with DHS on May 23. Under the agreement, mother received family counseling with child, was provided with parenting classes, and agreed to attend weekly parenting group meetings. On May 25, mother had a positive urinalysis (UA) test for methamphetamine. In June, both parents voluntarily extended the custody agreement. In August, mother was sanctioned for a probation violation. Mother had failed to report for UA testing for a month after her positive UA test in late May. Mother also had failed to report to her probation officer as required on two occasions in July. On August 2, mother was referred by her probation officer to cognitive skills classes and to BCMH for personal counseling.

According to father’s post-prison supervision officer, father performed very poorly on supervision after his release from prison in 1998. He refused to enter a long-term residential drug treatment program, despite having been ordered to do so by the officer and by the court. Although father eventually entered an outpatient treatment program, he “constantly refused and attempted to manipulate his way out of’ the program. When father finally agreed to enter residential [299]*299treatment in January 2000, “he was immediately terminated because he had a dirty [UA] for methamphetamine.” In addition, father did not have a permanent residence, and he refused to participate in a domestic violence program as directed by the probation court. Father did participate in an anger management and drug and alcohol treatment program that he entered on his own. At the time of the jurisdictional hearings, father’s post-prison supervision officer also intended to require him to participate in domestic violence classes after his other treatment had sufficiently progressed.

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New Jersey Div. v. ARG
824 A.2d 213 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2003)
STATE EX REL. JUV. DEPT. v. Risland
51 P.3d 697 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
51 P.3d 697, 183 Or. App. 293, 2002 Ore. App. LEXIS 1268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-juvenile-department-v-risland-orctapp-2002.