Opinion ID: 2520536
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Dylan

Text: Dylan was born in January 1995. Rick and Dylan's mother split up soon after Dylan was born; Rick got fifty-one percent custody and the mother got forty-nine percent. In August 1999 the predecessor to the Office of Children's Services (OCS) received a report of harm, to the effect that the mother's husband had sexually abused Dylan. Around this time, OCS also received a report that Rick was leaving Dylan with multiple caregivers (including a friend who had been recently released from jail), that Rick and his girlfriend engaged in domestic violence, and that Dylan was seen playing in cocaine. This led OCS to remove Dylan in November 1999 from Rick's custody. He was placed with a foster family. Dylan stayed with this family between approximately November 1999 and August 2001. He initially showed disturbing behavior  choking a cat, killing a pet duck, fondling his foster mother  but over time became better behaved as he settled in with the foster family. During this period Dylan's parents stipulated to an adjudication of Dylan as a child in need of aid under AS 47.10.011(6) (physical harm), (7) (sexual abuse), and (9) (neglect). Meanwhile, in December 1999, Rick was arrested and ultimately convicted for assaulting his girlfriend. He was incarcerated until April 2000. By the fall of 2000 Rick began participating in his case plan, and married a woman named Leigh B. Leigh had prior convictions for assault. Dylan visited with Rick and Leigh on the weekends, which seemed to go well but also appeared to be correlated with increased misbehavior upon his return to school and the foster home. By August 2001 Rick had completed all the requirements of his case plan, and Dylan was returned to Rick's home. Rick's case plan had included anger management and psychological assessments by Dr. Paul E. Turner and Dr. Jackie Bock. Prior to Rick's resumption of custody, Dr. Turner found that Rick had significant parenting deficits, particularly vis-a-vis Dylan's problems with sexuality and aggression. In his sessions with Rick, Dr. Turner stressed the importance of providing a secure home for Dylan when Rick resumed custody, and keeping track of Dylan's academic program. Dylan stayed with his father from August 2001 to December 2002, when OCS removed him. This period was characterized by a marked increase in Dylan's anger and sexual misbehavior, including an incident in which Dylan shoved a girl's head into his crotch. Toward the end of this period, Rick began shifting households and domestic partners rapidly. In June 2002 Leigh kicked Rick out and he moved in with another woman, Stella. In November 2002 Rick and Dylan apparently became somewhat vagrant, shifting multiple times between Stella's house and Leigh's house, with a brief stay in the house of a woman Rick claimed was his sister. Domestic violence and absenteeism remained a problem in these households. Leigh got a domestic violence restraining order against Rick, and claimed that Rick was never at home. Stella claimed that she was Dylan's primary caregiver. There were physical fights between Stella and Rick, which Dylan seems to have witnessed. During this period, Dylan attempted to run away to his foster family. Dylan testified (and the superior court found) that Rick slapped Dylan at one point during this period, leaving marks serious enough for a church pastor to call the police to investigate (the investigation did not result in a prosecution, and during the investigation Dylan denied having been slapped, a denial Rick relies on in this appeal to argue that the slap did not in fact in occur). Dylan testified that Rick disciplined him by hitting him with a spatula, by making him eat soap, and by making him drink vinegar. Participation in counseling also declined during this period: Dylan began missing sessions with Dr. Bock, and Rick missed seven of seventeen home family sessions. Dylan and Rick would return to counseling sporadically in response to specific incidents. Rick then dropped the family out-of-home-based services. Toward the end of the period of Rick's custody over Dylan, in fall 2002, Dr. Turner evaluated Dylan and Rick. He diagnosed Dylan as having Reactive Attachment Disorder, Major Depression, and Oppositional Defiant features. [Dylan] was also sexually reactive. Dr. Turner concluded that this was caused by Dylan's chaotic, violent home life, and recommended foster care. During this period, Dylan also failed to show up for a remedial summer reading program in which he was enrolled. Rick's custody ended in December 2002. On December 12 no one picked up Dylan from the school bus stop. The next day OCS removed Dylan from Rick's care. OCS returned Dylan to the foster home where he had been placed before, and Dylan immediately called these foster parents his mom and dad. The foster parents noticed that Dylan was dirty by the time he got to them; he had also been dirty and badly clothed during one of his recent visits to Dr. Bock. Rick visited Dylan until March 2003, when he was convicted of assaulting Stella. Rick was incarcerated from March 2003 to February 2004, a month before the termination trial began. Dylan is doing well with the foster family.