Dep't of Human Servs. v. L. S. H. (In re C. I. H.)

• Jurisdiction: Oregon
• Parties: In the Matter of C. I. H., a Child. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Petitioner-Respondent, v. L. S. H., Appellant.
• Citation: 286 Or.App. 477,398 P.3d 1013
• Docket Number: A163923
• Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
• Decision Date: 28 June 2017

286 Or.App. 477

398 P.3d 1013

In the Matter of C. I. H., a Child.

DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, Petitioner-Respondent,

v.L. S. H., Appellant.

A163923

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and submitted May 16, 2017.

June 28, 2017

Shannon Storey, Chief Defender, Juvenile Appellate Section, Office of Public Defense Services, argued the cause and filed the brief for appellant.

Inge D. Wells, Assistant Attorney General, Eugene, argued the cause for respondent.With her on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Bjamin Gutman, Solicitor General.

Before DeHoog, Presiding Judge, and Lagesen, Judge, and Wollheim, Senior Judge.

LAGESEN, J.

Mother appeals from a juvenile court judgment taking dependency jurisdiction over mother's five-year-old daughter, C.The juvenile court determined that it had jurisdiction over C after mother entered into an agreement with the Department of Human Services(DHS).Under that agreement, mother waived her right to an evidentiary hearing on jurisdiction and admitted to one of the jurisdictional allegations in the petition, as that allegation had been modified in accordance with the parties' agreement.¹The issue before us is whether the amended jurisdictional allegation to which mother admitted is sufficient to support the juvenile court's exercise of dependency jurisdiction over C.Although mother did not contest the point below, she now contends that her admission, standing alone, is insufficient to support the juvenile court's exercise of jurisdiction.We conclude that mother's admission to the amended jurisdictional allegation, viewed under the standard of review articulated in Dept. of Human Services v. D.D. , 238 Or.App. 134, 241 P.3d 1177(2010), rev. den. , 349 Or. 602, 249 P.3d 123(2011), is sufficient to support the juvenile court's exercise of dependency jurisdiction over C.We therefore affirm.

The relevant facts are procedural and not disputed.DHS petitioned the juvenile court to exercise dependency jurisdiction over C.The petition alleged that C is within the court's dependency jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100(1)(c).²Specifically, paragraph 4 of the petition alleged:

"The child is within the jurisdiction of the Court by reason of the following facts, to wit: ORS 419B.100(1)(c)

"The circumstances and conditions of [C] are such as to endanger her own welfare, in that:

"A.The mother's mental health condition interferes with her ability to safely parent.

"B.The mother's abuse of prescription medication and/or substance abuse interferes with her ability to safely parent.

"C.The mother causes the child harm by subjecting the child to unnecessary, invasive medical procedures."

The juvenile court set the matter for an evidentiary hearing on jurisdiction, but, in advance of that hearing, mother and DHS negotiated an agreement.Under its terms, the parties agreed that paragraph 4A of the petition would be amended to read as follows:

"The mother's physical health, mental health, and disabilities interfere with her ability to parent in the safest way possible and creates risks that are unacceptable to mother.Mother and child will benefit from the services of the court, DHS, and caseworker Traci Noonan."

Mother further agreed to waive her right to an evidentiary hearing on jurisdiction and to admit to the jurisdictional allegation contained in paragraph 4A, as modified.The parties also agreed that DHS would move to dismiss the jurisdictional allegations contained in paragraphs 4B and 4C.

At the hearing, DHS moved to dismiss the jurisdictional allegations in paragraphs 4B and 4C as agreed, and the juvenile court confirmed with mother both that (1)she was admitting to the modified allegation in paragraph 4A of the petition and (2)mother understood that, by doing so, she was giving up her right to an evidentiary hearing and the procedures to which she otherwise would be entitled, including "the right to make the State prove its case against [her] by a preponderance of the evidence."The court then heard from other participants in the case, who elaborated on how mother's mental and physical health issues and disabilities posed a present risk to C.Mother's caseworker explained that it was apparent that mother loved C and wanted to do what was in C's best interest, but that

"it is also clear that mother has some issues around believing her child is ill when the child is not ill.And we just want to assist the mom to help work with one primary care physician with regards to her daughter and to make sure that this daughter is not being given any medications or diagnoses that the child does not need."

C's lawyer concurred in the caseworker's assessment, noting that C was "very loved and doted on," but that "there are existing concerns about the level and type of medical interventions, but I think it will be good to have a caseworker involved that the mother trusts and that can kind of, you know, oversee and manage this."Mother's lawyer noted that the case was "not our typical case of abuse or neglect," but, instead, was "almost a case of overparenting and being overprotective and, you know, the mom having worry and concerns about her daughter's health."Mother's lawyer further explained that mother"really likes her caseworker," was "looking forward to improving as a mother, and she doesn't want to make these mistakes," and saw the situation as "a win/win."Mother thanked the court for working with her, stating that she wanted "to show that I love my daughter and that I just want to do whatever is best for her."

Following mother's admission to the modified allegation and the court's colloquy with the case participants, the court determined that C was within the jurisdiction of the court and made her a ward of the court as required by ORS 419B.328.³The court ordered that C be "committed to DHS for care, placement, and supervision, with the placement preference being with the mother."The court further ordered mother to participate in a range of services recommended by DHS, and granted DHS's motion to dismiss jurisdictional allegations 4B and 4C.It then entered a "Judgment of Jurisdiction and Disposition."Consistent with the court's ruling on the record, the judgment reflects that the court determined that C was within its jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100 based on mother's admission to amended allegation 4A.

Mother has appealed.As noted, she assigns error to the juvenile court's determination that C was within its jurisdiction, contending that her admission was insufficient to permit that determination.In response, DHS argues that mother consented to the entry of judgment and that, therefore, ORS 19.245(2) bars this appeal and requires us to dismiss it.⁴Alternatively, DHS points out that mother did not preserve her assigned error and argues that we should not review it for that reason, asking us to overrule a line of prior cases holding that we must consider issues of juvenile court jurisdiction raised on appeal even if such issues were not preserved in the juvenile court.⁵Finally, DHS argues that mother's admission, when viewed under the standard of review articulated in D.D. , is sufficient to support the juvenile court's determination that C is within its jurisdiction.

For the reasons that follow, we conclude that ORS 19.245 does not bar this appeal, and that, under the standard set by D.D. , mother's admission was sufficient to support the juvenile court's jurisdictional determination.As a result, we do not reach DHS's contention that our line of cases holding that a party may contest a juvenile court's determination of dependency jurisdiction on appeal, notwithstanding a failure to contest jurisdiction below, is erroneous under Chandler v. State of Oregon , 230 Or. 452, 370 P.2d 626(1962), and should be overruled.SeeDept. of Human Services v. T.E.B. , 279 Or.App. 126, 131 n. 2, 377 P.3d 682, rev. den. , 360 Or. 422, 383 P.3d 858(2016)(declining to address similar argument by DHS upon concluding that allegations to which parent admitted were sufficient to support juvenile court's exercise of jurisdiction).

We start with DHS's argument that ORS 19.245(2) bars this appeal.That statute—which we have acknowledged applies in proceedings under the juvenile code, State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. Jenkins , 209 Or.App. 637, 639, 149 P.3d 324(2006), rev. den. , 342 Or. 416, 154 P.3d 722(2007) —generally prohibits a party from appealing a judgment when that party consented to the entry of judgment.ORS 19.245(2)("[a]party to a judgment given by confession * * * may not appeal from the judgment" except as otherwise specified);Russell v. Sheahan , 324 Or. 445, 454, 927 P.2d 591(1996)(concluding that ORS 19.245⁶ embodies "the fundamental principle that a party may not take an appeal from a judgment to which that party consented").DHS contends that, by admitting to the modified jurisdictional allegation and waiving her right to an evidentiary hearing on jurisdiction, mother, in effect, consented to the entry of judgment and that, as a result, her appeal is foreclosed by ORS 19.245(2) and must be dismissed.

We disagree.Although mother admitted to the modified jurisdictional allegation, did not actively contest that her admission was sufficient to support a determination that C was within the court's jurisdiction, and acknowledged the possibility that, as a result of her admission, the court"may" place her child outside of her home, mother was never asked whether she consented to entry of the judgment, and there are no other indications that mother consented to the entry of judgment, as distinct from admitting to the allegation on which the juvenile court predicated its jurisdictional determination.Beyond that, it appears that the court entered judgment because it determined on its own that mother's admission demonstrated that jurisdiction was warranted, not because of any expression of consent to entry of judgment by mother.Under those circumstances, we conclude that ORS 19.245(2)...