In re R.L.

• Decision Date: 12 November 2019
• Docket Number: DA 19-0210
• Citation: 452 P.3d 890,397 Mont. 507,2019 MT 267
• Parties: In the MATTER OF: R.L., K.S. and T.S., Youths in Need of Care.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

397 Mont. 507

452 P.3d 890

2019 MT 267

In the MATTER OF: R.L., K.S. and T.S., Youths in Need of Care.

DA 19-0210

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs: September 25, 2019

Decided: November 12, 2019

For Appellant: Julie Brown, Montana Legal Justice, PLLC, Missoula, Montana

For Appellee: Timothy C. Fox, Montana Attorney General, Katie F. Schulz, Helena, Montana, Joshua A. Racki, County Attorney, Valerie Winfield, Deputy County Attorney, Great Falls, Montana

Justice Ingrid Gustafson delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 S.L. (Mother) appeals from the termination of her parental rights to R.L., K.S., and T.S. (Children) issued March 4, 2019, by the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County. We affirm.

¶2 We restate the issues on appeal as follows:

1. Whether the Department engaged in reasonable efforts to prevent removal of Children and to reunite Mother with Children;

2. Whether the District Court erred in determining the conduct or condition rendering Mother unfit, unable, or unwilling to parent was unlikely to change within a reasonable time.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶3 Prior to this case, the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, Child and Family Services Division (Department) had a history of prior intervention with this family, including a four-month period in late 2016 when Children were placed in foster care. At that time, Mother's use of drugs was of concern to the Department as such interfered with her ability to manage R.L.'s diabetes

. In early November 2017, R.L. required hospitalization in treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis, again raising concern that Mother was neglecting R.L.'s medical needs. While investigating the situation, Mother exhibited behavior indicative of drug or alcohol use including fast, slurred, and tangential speech; erratic moods; and dilated pupils. Mother refused to do a UA or participate with the Department without a court order. T.S. and K.S. reported drug use and related drug activities in the home and expressed they did not feel safe in Mother's care. Given prior intervention with the family regarding the same issues, R.L.'s medical situation, T.S.'s and K.S.'s reports, and Mother's refusal to work with the Department on an informal basis, on November 21, 2017, the Department filed petitions for Emergency Protective Services (EPS), adjudication of Youth in Need of Care (YINC), and Temporary Legal Custody (TLC) for all three Children, alleging physical and medical neglect.¹

¶4 The show cause hearing was initially set for December 20, 2017, but the Department was unable to personally serve Mother, requiring a continuance. Thereafter, CPS Julie Bass attempted to conduct a home visit but was denied entry. She set an appointment with Mother for the following day, but Mother failed to appear. She also attempted to confirm Mother had received the petition and notice of the show cause hearing, but Mother refused to admit receipt of such. Ultimately, the Department had to serve Mother through publication.

¶5 In early 2018, the Department offered Mother a family group decision making meeting but Mother did not follow through with this. Mother did not appear for the hearing on February 14, 2018, at which the court adjudicated Children as youths in need of care, or for the dispositional hearing on March 28, 2018. At this hearing, Mother's counsel reported that she had not talked to Mother and had not been able to discuss the Department's proposed treatment plan with Mother. At the conclusion of this hearing, the District Court granted the Department TLC for a period of six months and approved the Department's proposed treatment plan for Mother. Mother's treatment plan required her to complete a mental health evaluation and follow the recommendations thereof; complete an anger management evaluation and follow the recommendations thereof; attend parenting classes; utilize a family-based service provider; apply for Medicaid; sign releases of information for the Department; and remain in weekly contact with the Department.

¶6 The Department provided Mother with contact information and referred her to Gateway and Misfits in Great Falls for a mental health evaluation and additional counseling or treatment if recommended. The Department also requested Mother sign releases so the Department could obtain information from these service providers.

Mother did not report receipt of any services from these providers and failed to sign releases for any service providers.

¶7 Mother failed to appear at the status hearing on June 20, 2018. Mother's counsel was provided contact information for Amanda Big Head, the new CPS worker assigned to the case. In July 2018, Mother met with CPS Big Head and reported she was moving to Idaho and wanted the case transferred there.² CPS Big Head advised Mother that if she moved to Idaho, Mother would need to provide her contact information and also would need to maintain contact with her so she could assist Mother in implementing services necessary to complete Mother's treatment plan in Idaho. At that time, Mother did not indicate confusion or lack of understanding as to the tasks of her treatment plan and there is no indication she requested clarification of her treatment plan with CPS Big Head. CPS Big Head never heard from Mother again.³

¶8 The Department sought extension of TLC for a period of six months. Hearing on the petition for extension was held September 26, 2018. Mother did not appear. At the hearing, counsel for the Department indicated the Department did not know where Mother was, and Mother's counsel indicated she had not heard from Mother for over a month. The District Court expressed concern about extending TLC for six months given Mother's total lack of engagement with the Department. The court ultimately granted a 90-day extension indicating that if Mother did not engage shortly, termination proceedings should be pursued. Two months later, Mother's counsel advised CPS Big Head that Mother had enrolled in a life plan program at the Ginny May Wellness Center in Boise, Idaho. On December 24, 2018, the Department filed a Petition for Termination of Parental Rights, asserting Mother failed to complete her treatment plan and the conduct or condition rendering Mother unfit is unlikely to change within a reasonable time pursuant to § 41-3-609(1)(f), MCA. After the termination petition was filed, CPS Big Head also received an e-mail from the Ginny May Wellness Center advising of Mother's participation with that program.

¶9 Mother appeared at the termination hearing on February 14, 2019, via VisionNet from Idaho. The District Court interviewed K.S.⁴ K.S., then 15 years old, expressed she did not want to live with Mother and did not believe R.L. should live with Mother either. She expressed concerns that Mother was using drugs and having a hard time stopping. CPS Big Head testified Mother had failed to complete her treatment plan—by failing to complete a mental health evaluation, failing to complete an anger management evaluation, failing to engage in visitation, and failing to maintain consistent contact with her. She also testified she had never received any releases which would allow her to follow up with any service providers. Mother testified that through the Ginny May Wellness Center she had completed anger management treatment and parenting classes and was receiving drug treatment. She testified she had signed releases with the Ginny May Wellness Center that allowed the Department to access information from that center.

¶10 In its written orders terminating Mother's parental rights to Children, the District Court specifically found:

13. Birth Mother testified that she has done her treatment plan and is working to complete it, however, there is no documentation or evidence other than her self-serving testimony that she has done anything on the treatment plan. Birth Mother failed to provide any documentation of any attendance at any of the treatment she claimed to have completed, did not forward any of the documentation to CPS Big Head, or forward signed releases for the documentation so that CPS Big Head could obtain the records. The Court finds the testimony of Birth Mother not credible and unsupported by any evidence. CPS Big Head testified that she had attempted to engage the parents with services here in Montana and that the parents moved to Boise, Idaho, and did not maintain contact with her or with the children, did not provide any documentation, releases or testimony to support that she engaged in any portion of the treatment plan.

...

16. Birth Mother and Birth Father [C.L.] left the state and did not keep the Department informed of their contact information, which prevented the Department from establishing courtesy services and did not complete any releases which would allow CPS Big Head to obtain any documentation on any services in which the parents have allegedly engaged.

...

18. The Court found that both Birth Mother and Birth Father [C.L.] made self-serving statements that they have completed their treatment plans, without providing any documentation, and in contravention of this Court's explicit order to comply with and successfully complete their respective treatment plans. The Court finds that the Birth Mother [S.L.] and the Birth Father [C.L.] chose to do their own treatment plan, to not provide the documentation of any work they performed to the Department and failed to maintain contact with the Department or the Children. The conduct or condition of [Mother] and [Father] is unlikely to change within any reasonable period of time as they have been given numerous opportunities to comply with and complete their treatment plan and they have failed to do so.

¶11 Mother appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶12 This Court reviews a district court's decision to terminate parental rights for an abuse of discretion. In re A.S. , 2016 MT 156, ¶ 11, 384 Mont. 41, 373 P.3d 848 ; In re K.A. , 2016 MT 27, ¶ 19, 382 Mont. 165, 365 P.3d 478....