Matter of D.A. and M.A. ( 2013 )

July 16 2013
DA 12-0648
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
2013 MT 191IN THE MATTER OF:
D.A. and M.A.,
Youths in Need of Care.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the Eighth Judicial District,
In and For the County of Cascade, Cause Nos. CDN 10-064 and 10-065
Honorable Kenneth R. Neill, Presiding Judge
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellant:
Elizabeth Thomas, Attorney at Law; Missoula, Montana
For Appellee:
Timothy C. Fox, Montana Attorney General, Pamela P. Collins, Assistant
Attorney General; Helena, Montana
Theresa L. Diekhans, Assistant Attorney General, Child Protection Unit;
Great Falls, Montana
Submitted on Briefs: March 6, 2013
Decided: July 16, 2013
Filed:
__________________________________________
Clerk
Justice Brian Morris delivered the Opinion of the Court.
¶1 The Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County terminated T.A.’s (Mother’s)
parental rights to her two daughters D.A and M.A. (collectively “Children”). Mother claims
that the Department of Health and Human Services (Department) failed to comply with the
provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and various other federal and state
requirements. We affirm.
¶2 We address the following issues on appeal:
¶3 Whether the Department made sufficient active efforts to reunify Mother and the
Children to satisfy ICWA?
¶4 Whether the Department provided sufficient evidence that reunification of Children
with Mother would cause serious physical or emotional damage to the Children?
¶5 Whether the District Court properly determined that Mother had stipulated to the
treatment plan?
¶6 Whether all stipulations in ICWA involuntary termination proceedings must be
reduced to writing?
FACTS
¶7 T.A. is the natural mother of M.A. and D.A. M.A. is nine years old and D.A. is seven
years old. The Children and Mother are enrolled members of the Chippewa Cree Tribe.
¶8 Mother has a long history of illegal drug use that includes methamphetamine,
marijuana, and benzodiazepine. Mother tested positive for methamphetamine in August
2005 when she was six months pregnant with D.A. The Department removed M.A. from
Mother’s care the day after Mother’s positive methamphetamine test.
¶9 The District Court, in an earlier proceeding, had adjudicated M.A. a youth in need of
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care and granted temporary legal custody (TLC) of M.A. to the Department. The
Department removed D.A. from Mother’s care at birth in November 2005 due to Mother’s
methamphetamine use while pregnant with D.A. The Department restored custody of M.A.
and D.A. to Mother in 2007 after Mother successfully completed a treatment plan.
¶10 Mother also has a long history with the Department. Child Protective Services (CPS)
has received at least twelve referrals regarding Mother since 2004. CPS undertook eight
child investigative reports during that period. These referrals involved Mother’s other child
too. The Department required Mother to attend treatment after Mother had left her daughter,
A.A., at a daycare in October 2008. A.A. was around five months old at the time. The
Department agreed to A.A.’s placement with her birth father with whom she still resides.
¶11 The Children’s maternal aunt and uncle agreed to care for the Children so that Mother
could attend treatment after the incident with A.A. Mother walked away from that treatment
program after two days. She chose instead to live at a rescue home without the Children.
The Children remained with the aunt and uncle until April 2010 when the uncle informed the
Department that the aunt and uncle no longer could care for the Children.
¶12 The Department placed the Children into protective custody on April 23, 2010. The
Department filed a petition for emergency protective services, adjudication as youths in need
of care, and TLC for the youths on April 28, 2010. The Department originally assigned
Amanda Scott (Scott), a child protective specialist, to the case. Scott tried unsuccessfully to
contact Mother through Mother’s sister, Mother’s probation officer, M.A.’s grandmother,
and M.A.’s father. Scott finally contacted Mother in June 2010.
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¶13 The District Court held a show cause hearing and adjudicatory hearing on the
Department’s petition on May 25, 2010. The Department notified the Chippewa Cree Tribe
of the proceeding. The Tribe did not respond. Mother appeared through counsel as she was
in custody.
¶14 The Department by this point had placed M.A. with a grandparent and D.A. with a
maternal aunt. Mother’s counsel stipulated to the Department having temporary
investigative authority (TIA) due to Mother’s satisfaction with the Children’s placement.
Counsel contested TLC because of Mother’s absence. The Department agreed to limit its
petition, for the time being, to TIA. The court inquired whether the Department needed to
present the testimony of an ICWA expert before the court could grant TIA. The Department
argued that Mother could waive the need for the ICWA expert. Mother’s counsel stipulated
to waive the expert’s testimony. The court approved the Children’s current placements and
granted the Department temporary investigative authority for 90 days.
¶15 The court held a show cause and adjudicatory hearing on the Department’s petition to
convert the TIA to TLC on July 13, 2010. Mother appeared by telephone and was
represented by counsel. The court informed Mother that she would have to undergo a
treatment plan to regain custody of the Children if she agreed to the Department’s TLC.
Mother agreed.
¶16 The Department had not yet completed Mother’s treatment plan. The Department
represented that it would have Mother’s treatment plan ready within 20 days. Mother’s
counsel again stipulated to waive ICWA expert testimony. Mother’s counsel also agreed to
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treat this hearing as a dispositional hearing, on the condition that Mother could object to the
contents of the treatment plan once the Department completed it. The Department agreed to
allow Mother 10 days to object to the treatment plan once the Department filed the treatment
plan with the court.
¶17 The court ordered the Children adjudicated youths in need of care on July 23, 2010.
The court found that “[t]he treatment plan for the Mother, [T.A.], is reasonable and
appropriate.” The District Court also stated that Mother had “reviewed the proposed
treatment plan and she had signed the treatment plan and has already begun to complete the
requirements of the treatment plan.”
¶18 The Department’s completion of Mother’s treatment plan took longer than the 20 days
that the Department had represented. The Department finally submitted Mother’s treatment
plan to the District Court on November 1, 2010. By this time, Mother had been transferred
from the Cascade County Detention Center to Passages in Billings, and finally to Butte’s
Pre-Release Center. Mother filed no objection to the content of the treatment plan.
¶19 Mother remained in the Butte Pre-Release Center for almost a year. Throughout this
period, Mother maintained contact with the Children, the Department, and her parole officer.
Mother also completed a psychological evaluation, attended parenting classes, and remained
employed as required by her treatment plan.
¶20 Dr. Susan Day, a licensed clinical psychologist, performed Mother’s psychological
evaluation. Dr. Day recommended that Mother demonstrate for six months that she could
maintain her sobriety outside a monitored setting. Mother would need to be discharged from
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Pre-Release in order to meet this recommendation. Dr. Day also recommended that Mother
be required to establish a stable home, sobriety, and work for six continuous months in order
to demonstrate that Mother was sufficiently stable to parent the Children. Mother never
completed these goals.
¶21 Mother discharged from Pre-Release in Butte on November 22, 2011. She moved
into the Pre-Release’s Alternative Reporting Component (ARC). ARC operates as a
transitional living program that “provides a continuum of care” for those offenders who
transition from Pre-Release back into the community. ARC afforded Mother the opportunity
to establish a residence of her own. Mother still had to comply with certain rules and
conditions of release, including those in her treatment plan.
¶22 The Department transferred D.A. from a foster home in Great Falls to a foster home in
Butte in October 2011. The Department intended that D.A. would transition into Mother’s
home while Mother completed ARC and met her release conditions. Scott worked with
Joslin Swartz (Swartz), a Department child protection specialist in Butte, to facilitate D.A.’s
transfer.
¶23 Swartz met with Mother on numerous occasions while Mother lived in Butte. Swartz
met with Mother both at Swartz’s office and at Mother’s home. Swartz learned during one
home visit that Mother had a live-in boyfriend. Mother falsely told Swartz the boyfriend was
at a funeral in Washington. The boyfriend actually was in jail in Spokane, Washington.
¶24 Department policy prevented D.A.’s placement in Mother’s home until the
Department had investigated the boyfriend’s background. Swartz informed Mother that the
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boyfriend needed to provide fingerprints and to execute a release that would allow the
Department to investigate his background. Swartz gave Mother the information release and
fingerprint forms. The boyfriend submitted fingerprints, but he refused to sign the release.
The boyfriend continued to live with Mother.
¶25 Mother and boyfriend went drinking on New Year’s Eve 2011. The boyfriend
physically assaulted Mother that night and he was arrested for partner family member
assault. The Department of Corrections (DOC) placed Mother in the Enhanced Supervision
Program on January 25, 2012, for 90 days due to Mother’s violation of the terms of both her
parole and her parenting plan.
¶26 The Department filed a petition for permanent legal custody and termination of
parental rights on February 3, 2012. Mother absconded from her parole in March 2012.
Mother remained on the lam until June when she was arrested and detained for having
absconded.
¶27 M.A. lived with her paternal grandmother throughout most of these proceedings. The
guardian ad litem continually has reported to the court that M.A. remains “well taken care
of” by her grandmother. D.A. has been moved a number of times. Various relatives have
cared for her and the Department has placed her in foster homes in Box Elder, Great Falls,
and Butte. The Department returned D.A. to the foster home in Great Falls after the effort to
reunite D.A. with Mother in Butte failed.
¶28 The District Court held a permanent legal custody and termination of parental rights
hearing on August 29, 2012. Mother appeared with counsel. Dr. Day, Scott, Swartz, Tricia
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Jory (Mother’s parole and probation officer in Butte), and Anna Fischer (an ICWA expert)
testified for the Department.
¶29 The District Court granted the Department’s petition to terminate Mother’s parental
rights on September 28, 2012. The District Court determined beyond a reasonable doubt that
Mother had failed to comply with the treatment plan or show any indicia that she could begin
to comport with the treatment plan within a reasonable period. The District Court
determined beyond a reasonable doubt that Mother’s continued custody of the Children
likely would result in serious emotional or physical damage to the Children. Mother appeals.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶30 We review for abuse of discretion a district court’s termination of parental rights. In
re B.M., 2010 MT 114, ¶ 14, 356 Mont. 327, 233 P.3d 338. We determine whether a district
court’s findings of fact are clearly erroneous and whether its conclusions of law are correct.
In re B.M., ¶ 14. Where ICWA applies, we will uphold a district court’s termination of
parental rights if a reasonable fact finder could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that
continued custody of the child by the parent likely would result in serious emotional or
physical damage to the child. In re I.B., 2011 MT 82, ¶ 18, 360 Mont. 132, 255 P.3d 56.
DISCUSSION
¶31 Whether the Department made sufficient active efforts to reunify Mother and the
Children to satisfy ICWA?
¶32 The District Court terminated Mother’s parental rights pursuant to § 41-3-609(1)(f),
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MCA. The parties have stipulated that ICWA applies to Mother’s termination proceedings.
See 25 U.S.C. § 1903(4) (2006). ICWA requires the Department to make active efforts
toward reunification. 25 U.S.C. § 1912; In re I.B., ¶ 25.
¶33 Mother points to the lack of visitations with the Children as evidence of lack of active
efforts by the Department for reunification. Mother contends that the Department should
have provided more in-home services and worked more actively with Mother to attain
reunification after Mother had re-engaged with the Department in June 2012. Mother also
argues the Department’s documents contain insufficient use of the term “active efforts.”
¶34 Mother fails to acknowledge the impact that her incarceration and her own actions had
on the availability of visitations with the Children. These proceedings extended from April
23, 2010, through the termination hearing on August 29, 2012. Mother was incarcerated, or
otherwise under supervision and monitoring, throughout these 28 months with the exception
of the two separate occasions when she absconded from her parole. Consequentially, we
must consider Mother’s incarceration, her supervised status, and her absences while on the
lam when we evaluate whether the Department undertook active efforts to reunify Mother
with the Children. See A.A. v. Dept. of Fam. and Youth Servs., 982 P.2d 256, 261 (Alaska
1999).
¶35 Mother’s detours through the various levels of incarceration and supervision placed
significant roadblocks in the Department’s ability to reunite Mother and the Children. The
Department filed a petition for emergency protective services for the Children in April 2010.
Mother had left the Children with their aunt and uncle almost two years earlier. Mother had
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absconded from her parole. Department personnel finally found Mother in June 2010 at the
Cascade County Detention Center. Authorities soon transferred Mother to Passages in
Billings. Authorities transferred Mother from Passages to Pre-Release in Butte in September
or October 2010. Mother received parenting classes at both Passages and Pre-Release.
¶36 The Department scheduled visitations between Mother and D.A when they lived in
the same city. In fact, the Department moved D.A. to a foster family in Butte while Mother
was at the Butte Pre-Release Center and later ARC. Swartz helped Mother receive services
in Butte and monitored D.A. in foster care in Butte.
¶37 Swartz met with Mother to devise a plan to return D.A. to Mother’s care. Swartz
visited Mother’s ARC program home. Swartz learned of Mother’s live-in boyfriend during
one of these visits. Mother failed to return the boyfriend’s background check release.
Mother knew that the Department policy would prevent home visits between Mother and
D.A. until the Department had received the release. Swartz tried unsuccessfully to set up a
meeting with the boyfriend.
¶38 Swartz tried to help Mother address her transportation problems. Mother needed a
valid driver’s license so that she could get D.A. to school, daycare, and therapy. Mother
missed some of her visits with D.A. due, in part, to Mother’s lack of a valid driver’s license.
Swartz helped Mother gather the proper paperwork to obtain a license. Swartz also helped
Mother with daycare referrals so that Mother’s reunification with D.A. would not require
Mother to stop working. Mother never obtained the driver’s license or followed up on the
daycare referrals.
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¶39 Swartz discussed with Mother the opportunity for Mother and the Children to be
reunited through the “Michel’s House” program in Billings. Michel’s House would have
offered Mother added support with parenting and attaining sobriety. Mother was “adamant”
in her opposition to attending Michel’s House.
¶40 Swartz also supervised visits between Mother and D.A both at Swartz’s office and at
Mother’s home. Swartz testified that Mother was “unsure how to interact with [D.A.]” and
“had to be prompted on a lot of things.” Swartz also discussed with Mother the
Intermountain program. Intermountain could have provided in home therapy sessions to
Mother and D.A. Intermountain requires parent child reunification in order to enroll.
Mother never achieved reunification.
¶41 D.A.’s return to Great Falls halted visits between Mother and D.A in Butte. Swartz
testified that D.A. had exhibited behavior problems at her foster home in Butte. Specifically,
Swartz testified that D.A. had started to exhibit sexual behaviors, was hitting other children,
almost killed a kitten, and was yelling and screaming. These actions led D.A.’s Butte foster
parents to fear that D.A.’s behavioral problems put at risk an infant who was in their home.
No other foster homes were available in Butte.
¶42 Mother’s treatment plan required random urinalysis testing. Swartz tried to help
Mother set up random urinalysis testing when Mother was placed in the ARC program.
Mother never complied.
¶43 The Department attempted to arrange a meeting with Mother after Mother returned to
supervised status in June 2012. The Department wanted to assess Mother’s plans for
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complying with her treatment plan. Department personnel called to verify Mother would
attend. Mother’s phone line had been disconnected. Mother failed to show up for the
meeting.
¶44 The record establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that the Department undertook
active efforts to reunite Mother and the Children as required under ICWA. The Department
attempted to work around Mother’s incarceration, her supervision, and her chemical
dependency problems. The Department’s active efforts matched the Department’s words in
its desire to facilitate reunification.
¶45 Whether the Department provided sufficient evidence that reunification of Children
with Mother would cause serious physical or emotional damage to the Children?
¶46 ICWA requires the “testimony of qualified expert witnesses, that the continued
custody of the child by the parent or Indian custodian is likely to result in serious emotional
or physical damage to the child.” 25 U.S.C. § 1912(f) (emphasis added); see also § 41-3-
609(5), MCA. Nothing in 25 U.S.C. § 1912(f) requires a court to make this determination
solely from the testimony of the ICWA expert. In Montana, at minimum, evidence in the
record of serious physical or emotional damage must include an ICWA expert’s opinion that
serious emotional or physical damage to the child would result if the child is left in the
parent’s custody. In re K.B. and T.B., 2013 MT 133, ¶ 30, 370 Mont. 254, 301 P.3d 836.
The court may review the evidence to supplement the expert’s conclusion regarding likely
emotional or physical damage. See 25 U.S.C. § 1912(f).
¶47 Fisher qualifies as an ICWA expert. Fisher met with Mother. Fisher spoke with Scott
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about the case. Fisher testified that she had “all the information necessary” to evaluate
whether reunification posed a risk to the Children. Fisher opined that continued custody by
Mother likely would result in serious emotional and physical damage to the Children. Fisher
testified that it is not “within the norms of [an] Indian family for a mother to work this long
and not get it together and be able to then parent her children.”
¶48 Fisher noted that Mother has not had her children for a single weekend since the
Department became involved with the Children’s custody matter. No social worker has been
able to observe Mother actually parenting the Children except in a highly supervised setting.
This lack of observation prevented the Department from achieving one of the goals stated in
Mother’s treatment plan—to provide the Department the opportunity to assess the strengths,
needs, and concerns of the family.
¶49 The parties submitted this case before our recent decision in K.B. and T.B. ¶¶ 29-30.
The ICWA expert there testified only that the children would be “at risk” if placed in
Mother’s custody and asserted that termination would be “in the best interest of the
children.” K.B. and T.B., ¶ 29. The Department failed to ask the ICWA expert “whether
Mother’s continued custody would likely result in serious emotional or physical damage.”
K.B. and T.B., ¶ 29. We determined that the ICWA expert’s testimony failed to comply with
the requirements of ICWA, when read in conjunction with Montana’s Parent-Child
Relationship Termination Act of 1981. K.B. and T.B., ¶¶ 26-30.
¶50 Here the ICWA expert expressly affirmed that “continued custody by [Mother] would
likely result in serious emotional or physical damage to the children.” The ICWA expert
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further provided the basis for her opinion in that Mother’s inability to shake her addiction
leaves her unprepared to care for the Children. Mother failed to provide safe and secure
housing for the Children. Mother proved to be an unreliable caregiver for the Children as
she absconded from her parole on several occasions. Fisher’s testimony satisfied the
minimum requirements for an ICWA expert’s testimony in a termination proceeding in
Montana. K.B. and T.B., ¶ 30.
¶51 Ample other evidence in the record further supported the District Court’s
determination that the Children’s continued custody by Mother likely would result in serious
emotional or physical damage to the Children. Mother’s drug use and her inability to beat
her drug addictions despite multiple treatment programs constituted the primary source of
concern. Evidence in the record shows a pattern of Mother relapsing when stressful
situations emerge. Most recently, in 2012, Mother absconded from her probation, restarted
drinking and drug use, and associated with a known felon after she learned that the
Department intended to file a petition to terminate Mother’s parental rights. Treatment
programs repeatedly have proven to be ineffective to prevent Mother from relapsing into
alcohol and drug abuse.
¶52 Mother began her conditional release on November 21, 2011. Jory testified that
Mother violated both the terms of her parole and her probation by drinking less than a month
later. Mother absconded from her conditional release on March 17, 2012. Mother contacted
Jory while on the lam. Mother admitted to the use of drugs and alcohol. Mother admitted to
Jory that she was with a known felon. Mother promised to return. Mother failed to return.
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¶53 Mother has demonstrated an inability to maintain compliance with her treatment
program as her level of supervision decreases. Mother transitioned from the Passages
program, to Butte’s Pre-Release program, to the ARC program. Mother’s level of
supervision decreased at each new stage. Mother’s progress towards reunification with D.A.
and M.A. decreased as her level of supervision decreased. The evidence in the record
supports the District Court’s determination that Mother’s custody of the Children would pose
a likelihood of physical and emotional harm to the Children.
¶54 Whether the District Court properly determined that Mother had stipulated to the
treatment plan?
¶55 Mother argues that the “circumstances surrounding the adoption of [her] treatment
plan undermine a determination that the plan was appropriate.” The District Court issued an
order that stated that Mother had stipulated to a treatment plan three months before any
treatment plan had been presented to Mother. The District Court’s order further determined
the treatment plan to be reasonable and appropriate without having seen the completed
treatment plan.
¶56 Mother argues that § 41-3-443(2)(e), MCA, requires Mother’s signature in order for
the treatment plan to be valid. Mother misapprehends the language of the statue. Section
41-3-443(2)(e), MCA, requires that a treatment plan contains a signature of the parent
“unless the [treatment] plan is ordered by the court” (emphasis added). See also In re R.F.,
2001 MT 199, ¶ 31, 306 Mont. 270, 32 P.3d 1257. The District Court ordered Mother’s
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treatment plan.
¶57 Under these circumstances, we look to the treatment plan itself to determine whether
the treatment plan is reasonable and appropriate. Mother makes no argument that the
treatment plan contains unreasonable or inappropriate provisions. Mother made no objection
in the District Court to any specific term of the treatment plan. Mother agreed at the show
cause hearing on July 13, 2010, that she had 10 days after the Department filed the plan with
the District Court to raise any objections. Mother stipulated at the show cause hearing that
she would abide by the treatment plan unless she raised an objection to the plan. Mother
made no objections to the treatment plan at any time before the Department filed its notice to
terminate Mother’s parental rights. The District Court correctly determined that Mother had
stipulated to the terms of the treatment plan.
¶58 Whether all stipulations in ICWA involuntary termination proceedings must be
reduced to writing?
¶59 Mother urges this Court to reconsider its decision in In re J.M., 2009 MT 332, 353
Mont. 64, 218 P.3d 1213. ICWA’s § 1913(a) requires that a parent’s “voluntary consent” to
terminate parental rights be reduced to writing in voluntary ICWA termination proceedings.
See 25 U.S.C. § 1913(a). We determined In re J.M. that the writing requirement in § 1913(a)
has no applicability to non-voluntary termination proceedings. In re J.M., ¶ 19. We decline
Mother’s request to reconsider our holding in In re J.M.. ICWA’s 25 U.S.C. § 1913(a)
applies only to a “voluntary consent” to terminate. See 25 U.S.C. § 1913(a); In re J.M., ¶ 19;
In re Welfare of M.G., 201 P.3d 354 (Wash. App. 2009).
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¶60 Affirmed.
/S/ BRIAN MORRIS
We concur:
/S/ MIKE McGRATH
/S/ MICHAEL E WHEAT
/S/ JIM RICE
/S/ PATRICIA COTTER
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