NP v. State (In re Interest of BN)
| Decision Date | 22 November 2022 |
| Docket Number | S-22-0071 |
| Citation | 520 P.3d 529 |
| Parties | In the INTEREST OF: BN and DN, minor children, NP, Appellant (Respondent), v. The State of Wyoming, Appellee (Petitioner). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Representing Appellant: Melissa R. Theriault, Woodhouse Roden Ames & Brennan, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Representing Appellee: Bridget L. Hill, Attorney General; Misha Westby* , Deputy Attorney General; Christina F. McCabe, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Wendy S. Ross, Senior Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Ross.
Guardian ad Litem Program: Joseph Belcher, Director, and Kim Skoutary-Johnson, Chief Trial and Appellate Counsel, Wyoming Office of the Guardian ad Litem.
Before FOX, C.J., KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, and FENN, JJ.
[¶1] NP (Mother) appeals the juvenile court's order changing the permanency plan for her and her two youngest children from family reunification to adoption. Mother asserts the juvenile court abused its discretion when it determined the Department of Family Services (DFS) made reasonable, but unsuccessful, efforts to reunify the family without specifically tailoring their efforts to Mother's mental health needs. We affirm.
[¶2] Mother raises one issue on appeal, which we rephrase:
Whether the juvenile court abused its discretion when it found DFS made reasonable efforts at reunification and the permanency plan for the children should be changed to adoption.
[¶3] This matter involves Mother and her two children, BN and DN (born in 2015 and 2014, respectively).1 Mother has a significant history of child endangerment across Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, as well as a significant history of substance abuse. DFS first took BN and DN into protective custody in 2016 when Mother was arrested after fleeing from police in her vehicle with the children inside. The children have been in and out of protective custody since that time.
[¶4] This case began on January 20, 2021, when police officers in Colorado received a tip about a possible child kidnapping. The officers made contact with Mother, who then allegedly shot at the officers and fled the scene in a vehicle. The officers followed in pursuit. Mother fled from Colorado into Albany County, Wyoming with both children seated in the vehicle. Mother drove at high rates of speed to elude the officers and drove into oncoming traffic to avoid tactical vehicle intervention. The officers eventually stopped Mother's vehicle, arrested her, and took BN and DN into protective custody. The State charged Mother with numerous felonies and misdemeanors.
[¶5] On January 22, 2021, the State filed a neglect petition against Mother. In addition to describing the above incident, the petition indicated Mother was subject to an active protection order which prohibited her from contacting the children due to a DUI criminal offense in Colorado.
[¶6] The juvenile court held a shelter care hearing the same day the petition was filed. Mother appeared and the court entered a denial of the allegations on her behalf. The court placed the children in DFS custody for placement in foster care. The court also ordered Mother to submit to a substance abuse and mental health evaluation; comply with the examiner's recommendations; and comply with random urinalysis testing. The court permitted Mother to have visitation with the children by letter or telephone at the discretion of DFS and the guardian ad litem.
[¶7] On March 23, 2021, Mother plead no contest to the neglect petition. The juvenile court found she neglected the children and ordered DFS to prepare a predisposition report (PDR). It also ordered Mother to undergo a substance abuse evaluation. After DFS’ referral, Mother completed an Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and then applied to an inpatient substance abuse treatment facility in Sheridan. In the context of her criminal case, the district court ordered Mother to be evaluated by the Wyoming State Hospital to assess her competency to proceed to trial. Mother was eventually admitted to the Wyoming State Hospital for inpatient psychiatric treatment.2
[¶8] On May 12, 2021, the State filed the PDR. It contained a detailed history of Mother's neglect of BN and DN, along with her extensive criminal history. It indicated the children had been subjected to significant neglect and abuse for most of their lives while in Mother's care. Between 2016 and 2020, Mother's criminal history included at least seven instances of law enforcement contacts related to child neglect, abuse, or abandonment, and one contact involving a DUI with children in the car. Mother's criminal history also involved, among other crimes, drug possession, domestic violence, theft, and assault.
[¶9] The PDR set forth Mother's history with child protective services with BN and DN. The PDR indicated DFS took all four of Mother's children into protective custody in November 2016 after her arrest for domestic violence and evading police in a vehicle with the children present. DFS had BN and DN placed in foster care from November 2016 through January 2018, and again from March 2018 through March 2020. Reunification was achieved in each prior case when Mother substantially completed her case plans. The PDR noted the children's current removal from Mother was the third time in five years and they have spent the majority of their lives in DFS custody.
[¶10] The juvenile court held a disposition hearing on May 20, 2021. In its order following the hearing, the court determined the permanency goal for the children would be family preservation with a concurrent goal of adoption. The court ordered Mother to utilize any and all programs while she was incarcerated to address substance abuse, parenting, trauma, and corrective thinking; "[f]ollow the recommendations of her ASI"; "[p]articipate in a parental capacity screening if deemed appropriate by her therapist"; and "seek individual counseling ... as much as she is able[.]" The court further ordered Mother's visitation with the children would be by letter and any other visitation would "be at the discretion of the [DFS], Guardian ad Litem , and in consultation with therapists of [BN and DN], and conducted in a therapeutic setting."
[¶11] DFS developed and filed the first case plan for the current juvenile proceedings related to BN and DN in March 2021. Mother's DFS caseworker attempted to confer with Mother on the details of the case plan while she was incarcerated but she refused to cooperate. Mother did not sign the case plan.
[¶12] The unsigned first case plan, filed prior to the juvenile court's disposition order, listed family reunification as the permanency goal, with a concurrent permanency plan of adoption or guardianship. It identified several areas for Mother to focus on, such as "be[ing] free from incarceration," "be[ing] sober and mentally stable," and being able to "provide prudent, safe, non-harmful and reasonable parenting to her children." It also listed tasks for her to complete to accomplish the plan's goals. Those tasks included:
[¶13] The DFS caseworker met monthly with Mother at the detention center and noted that Mother needed "significant mental health support." The caseworker regularly encouraged Mother to get a therapist and an evaluation so she could begin to work on her mental health. Mother declined the caseworker's suggestions saying she could not receive those services in the detention center. The caseworker stressed that DFS could connect Mother with a therapist to provide mental health support while she was at the detention center, but Mother insisted on waiting until she was at the Wyoming State Hospital to receive any mental health treatment.
[¶14] DFS offered Mother several other services: the "Love and Logic" parenting workbook, "classes through parents as teachers," and parenting books. DFS also initially gave Mother the option to have video visits with the children. Mother refused to accept these services.
[¶15] Following the disposition hearing, the DFS caseworker again met with Mother to update the case plan. Mother felt the case plan had several inaccuracies related to her criminal and factual background. Mother also requested DFS provide her with a Native American spiritual book on parenting, which DFS could not find. Mother did not sign the case plan. As filed with the juvenile court, the unsigned second case plan listed the same goals and tasks as the previous plan but contained handwritten notes indicating drug treatment programs were not available at the detention center, Mother's competency evaluation would be performed at the Wyoming State Hospital, and Mother would get a parental...
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