Source: https://telioslaw.com/blog/interested-parties-juvenile-dependency-and-neglect-cases
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 03:43:02+00:00

Document:
When a dependency and neglect case is on the juvenile court docket, things have already gone wrong with the child and his or her family. Tangled relationships and unhealthy situations are almost certain. Although the court is entrusted with protecting the best interests of the child, other parties have certain rights and obligations.
Special respondents may be involved with the child in ways related to an allegation of child abuse or neglect.2 Although they often prefer not to be involved, they have been joined involuntarily by the court.
In contrast, interested parties request to be joined because of their interest in the case. Interested parties will be informed of all proceedings in the dependency and neglect case, and have access to its confidential records. Who should be joined as an interested party—and under what circumstances—are issues that may cause confusion, because settled law is not extensive. However, Colorado statutes and a modest body of case law offer some guidance.
This article distinguishes interested parties from respondents and special respondents. It reviews relevant Colorado statutes and case law to draw out principles for the joining of interested parties. The article discusses the two main routes to becoming an interested party, analyzing the evolution of laws and principles that guide the definition of the attendant rights and requirements. It also clarifies guidelines as to who should be joined as an interested party, and under what circumstances.
Thus, interested parties receive information about a case and have a certain amount of power to control its progress.
CRS § 19-1-107(2) also states that in all cases under the Children’s Code,22 an interested party may request the juvenile court to “require that the person who wrote the report or prepared the material appear as a witness and be subject to both direct and cross-examination.”23 That implies that interested parties are to be informed of any written report or other material. This is reiterated in CRS § 19-3-604(3) with respect to a termination hearing.24 It gives interested parties not only access to information, but an opportunity to challenge and correct it.
Relatives and others interested in a child’s welfare often request to be joined, because interested parties have special rights in a court case. The Children’s Code has always presumed the existence of interested parties;29 however, it has never clearly defined the term. Moreover, case law does not explicitly define “interested parties.” Nonetheless, several statutes and a handful of cases deal with interested parties. Although the statutes are fairly recent and many of the cases are relatively old, the Historical and Statutory Notes (“Notes”) refer to the case law. Thus, as discussed below, it is possible to define interested parties and their rights by drawing inferences from these sources.
There are two major categories of interested parties. These consist of: (1) those who have cared for the child for longer than three months; and (2) relatives who have made a timely request for custody before a termination hearing begins. Both groups of interested parties are discussed below.
This statute appears to allow standing as an interested party to a broad group of people who have cared for the child.
Case law shows how the standards have been refined through the years. As discussed below, case law gives some clarification for balancing these two statutes.
The Court of Appeals reversed, indicating “that a grandparent to whom the child has been entrusted for care has status to appear and protest the actions of the court relative to the child.”36 Although Interest of J.T.B. involved a grandparent, the courts soon broadened the category.37 In light of this case and pursuant to CRS § 19-3-507(5), any close relative with physical custody of the child could be an interested party.
The Sanchez couple had custody for a substantial number of months and a reciprocal relationship of love and affection with the child. The court discussed the Sanchezes’ experience of caring for the child, commenting that their knowledge and concern brought them “within the classification” of interested parties, and gave them the right to intervene.41 Thus, Interest of M. holds that foster parents should be permitted to intervene when they have cared for the child.
People in Interest of M.51 can be distinguished from A.W.R because, in the former case, the child was available to adopt. Therefore, intervention by a foster parent can be limited if there has been neither a termination of parental rights nor a current plan to seek termination of such rights. This seems to fit the intent of CRS § 19-3-502(7), by limiting the ability of someone who is caring for the child to become an interested party, even though that person has the right to be heard at hearings and reviews.
The court stated that a natural or adoptive parent has a fundamental liberty interest, but this is not created in a stepparent without evidence that he was in loco parentis.55 The biological mother and stepfather were married only six weeks before the child was removed from the home, and had been acquainted only two-and-one-half months before the marriage.56 A stepparent will not become an interested party unless he or she meets the requirements of having custody or a significant long-term relationship with the child.
The Denver Department appealed, and the Colorado Supreme Court agreed that Brockhurst was an interested party “entitled to intervene when the child was placed in its care with court approval at the expense of petitioners.”61R.G.J. develops the concept of a “limited opportunity,” in this case for recouping expenses associated with the care of the child. Consequently, it is possible that a party caring for the child might have limited standing as an interested party to deal with other issues as well.
The second major route to becoming an interested party is to make a timely request as a relative. According to CRS § 19-3-605, the court must consider and give preference to relatives’ requests for custody if they are submitted in a timely way. Such a request must be made prior to the hearing on the petition for termination of parental rights. Preference in custody is given to the requesting relative,62 as long as the court determines that such placement is in the best interests of the child.
Although CRS § 19-3-605 has a long history in the Children’s Code,63 it does not specifically provide that if relatives are to be considered for custody, they must be interested parties. Case law gives some insight into how the courts consider: (1) timely requests for custody; and (2) relatives as interested parties. The case law has been consistent through the years.
Timely Application Necessary: Not intervening in a timely way is equally determinative. In 1975, in People in Interest of T.A.F. v. B.F.,71 a judgment was made terminating the parental rights of T.A.F.’s parents, and the child was placed for adoption. A maternal aunt and uncle had not intervened at any stage of the dependency and neglect proceedings; therefore, the Colorado Court of Appeals concluded they had no standing to challenge the termination order.72 In other words, relatives had a right to intervene only if they did so in a timely way.
A similar case examined whether relatives who are not parents have any kind of liberty interest when they have not made a timely application. In a 1996 Colorado Court of Appeals case, People in Interest of C.E.,73 after a petition in dependency or neglect was filed, a maternal aunt was asked if she wanted temporary custody of the child.74 She did not want custody at that time. However, after termination of parental rights, she asked to be considered as an adoptive parent and her request was denied.
B.D.G. was not a dependency and neglect case; therefore, CRS § 19-3-605 did not apply and the grandmother had no standing.81 Nonetheless, the court equated the provisions of CRS § 19-3-605 with being an interested party. The case is important because it clarifies that relatives who intervene and become interested parties may participate in proceedings before termination. However, this observation occurs in a case that did not involve dependency and neglect, and may not be reliable.
Interested parties in dependency and neglect cases have broad rights. Colorado statutory and case law permit interested parties to be joined, but only according to narrow prescriptive standards. Special respondents are not interested parties, and are joined by the court for the protection of the child and treatment of the family. The rights of special respondents are quite limited.
Relatives and others involved in these cases may request being joined in two ways. The first route is available to those who have cared for the child for more than three months. These caretakers may have full standing as interested parties or, depending on the circumstances of the case, the court may limit their standing. The second route is available to relatives requesting custody in a timely way prior to a planned termination hearing. CRS § 19-3-605 specifically allows other relatives to intervene to seek custody, but does not clarify whether this gives standing as an interested party.
However, a line of case law interprets intervention as equivalent to being an interested party. Generally, interested party status for relatives becomes relevant after termination of parental rights, although one case refers to intervention during the proceedings. The general direction of the cases indicates that intervention as an interested party should be interpreted narrowly rather than broadly, and the trend of the courts is to tighten the qualifications. Given the paucity of case law, a Colorado Supreme Court ruling would be useful. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal in each case is to reach a decision that is in the best interests of the child.
11. People ex rel. E.S., 49 P.3d 1221 (Colo. App. 2002).
14. Id. at 1223 (CRS § 19-3-502(5)).
16. CRS § 19-3-508(1)(a) through (d).
18. Armstrong v.Manzo, 380 U.S. 545 (1965).
20. Interest of A.M.D., 648 P.2d 625 (Colo. 1982).
22. CRS §§ 19-1-101 et seq.
25. CRS § 19-3-505(4)(a) and (b).
27. CRS § 19-3-507(3)(a) (court generally may continue dispositional hearing either on its own motion or on motion of any interested party).
29. People in Interest of C.P. v. F.P., 524 P.2d 316, 319 (Colo.App. 1974) (“While the Children’s Code does not expressly define those persons who may become ‘parties’ to proceedings such as those before us, it does contemplate the participation of interested third parties.”).
31. Historical and Statutory Notes (“Notes”) on CRS § 19-3-502(7).
33. Interest of J.T.B., 493 P.2d 691, 692 (Colo. App. 1971).
34. Id. at 692, 693.
37. Interest of M., 522 P.2d 1234 (Colo.App. 1974). This case also is cited as People in Interest of M.D.C.M., 34 Colo.App. 91 (1974).
39. Interest of M., supra, note 37 at 1236.
42. People ex rel. A.W.R., 17 P.3d 192 (Colo. App. 2000).
48. Id. at 197. Note that the statute is the same in the 2003 version.
51. Interest of M., supra, note 37.
52. People ex rel. E.S., supra, note 11.
57. Interest of R.J.G., 557 P.2d 1214 (Colo. App. 1976). This case is cited in the Notes for CRS § 19-3-507.
61. City and Cty. of Denver v. Brockhurst Boys Ranch, Inc., 575 P.2d 843, 846 (Colo. 1978).
63.The Notes state that CRS § 19-3-605 was amended in 2003. It was contained in a title repealed and reenacted in 1987. The 1987 version was similar to CRS § 19-11-105.5 as it existed in 1986. According to the electronic version on Westlaw, it is derived from CRS 1963 §§ 22-1-1 et seq., 22-2-1 et seq., 22-11-1 et seq., and 22-13-1 et seq.; and from Laws 1967,H.B. 1001, § 1 and Laws 1977, H.B. 1563, § 1.
64. Interest of C.P. v.F.P., 524 P.2d 316 (Colo. App. 1974).
69. Notes to CRS § 19-3-507 (grandmother’s rights included “right to be informed by the court of her right of cross-examination, to put on evidence in her own behalf asserting her fitness for custody, and to receive notice of subsequent hearings”).
71. Interest of T.A.F. v. B.F., 624 P.2d 349 (Colo.App. 1980).
73. Interest of C.E., 923 P.2d 383 (Colo.App. 1996).
78. Petition of B.D.G., 881 P.2d 375 (Colo. App. 1993).
79. Id. at 376 and 377.
81. Id. This was a relinquishment case under CRS § 19-5-104(2) (persons not eligible for custody in relinquishment case if birth parents designated otherwise).

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