Opinion ID: 2183121
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reunification Efforts With Breauna's Grandfather

Text: [¶ 6] In October 1996, the court (Portland, Goranites, J. ) granted Breauna's maternal grandfather limited intervenor status pursuant to 22 M.R.S.A. § 4005-B (1992). In March 1997, the court (Portland, Foster, J. ) ordered DHS to reunify Breauna with her grandfather overseas. The first step in reunifying Breauna with her grandfather was a home study. The home study was delayed by over a year. The grandfather and his family were living on the U.S. Air Force Base in Germany. The grandfather recommended a person to complete the home study in Germany to DHS, but DHS declined his suggestion. About a year later, DHS hired the same person to complete the home study that the grandfather had identified. This delay adversely affected the grandfather's reunification with Breauna because DHS credited Breauna's attachment to her foster family during that year as a reason for maintaining her foster care. [¶ 7] The court ordered the grandfather to temporarily relocate to Portland to begin an intensive reunification with Breauna. Breauna's placement with her grandfather and his wife was contingent upon her successful transition to them. When the court ordered reunification with the grandfather, it simultaneously relieved DHS of its obligation to reunify Breauna with her parents. [¶ 8] Spurwink recommended that the reunification plan exclude the mother because it feared that the grandfather would give her physical custody of Breauna. Rosemary Merrill, Breauna's guardian ad litem (GAL) until March 1998, was concerned that Spurwink had based its recommendation on misinformation because the grandfather and his wife were adamant that theynot the motherwould be Breauna's primary caretakers. Ms. Merrill thought the misinformation influenced Spurwink's final recommendation. [¶ 9] In February 1998, the intensive reunification of the grandfather and Breauna began. Spurwink Clinic designed and executed the reunification plan. Before the intensive reunification plan was established, the grandfather informed DHS and Spurwink that he could only remain in Maine for thirty days because Air Force rules prohibited him from living off base for more than thirty days. [1] [¶ 10] Spurwink's plan allowed the grandfather to visit Breauna under supervision for two hours, twice a week. The record shows that this plan was not a traditional intensive reunification plan. The plan should have consisted of at least four visits a week building towards daily visits. Although Spurwink knew the grandfather only had thirty days in the United States, its reunification plan required sixty days. The grandfather returned to Germany less than thirty days into the reunification program. [¶ 11] The grandfather can no longer be considered a reasonable alternative for custody. He has not returned to Maine since he left in March 1998 and he has not attended any of the termination hearings. At the termination hearing, the grandfather's attorney offered a letter from the grandfather. The attorney offered the letter during the examination of the mother under M.R. Evid. 801(d)(2), but the court excluded the letter because it did not fall within any hearsay exception.