Opinion ID: 887732
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: issues

Text: ¶ 46 Do the Department's alleged failures to comply with all of the statutory and court imposed deadlines surrounding J.Q.'s treatment plan affect the disposition of the case absent a showing of prejudice to J.Q.? ¶ 47 J.Q. alleges three errors the Department made regarding the treatment plan involving time delays as set forth in the procedural and factual background. See ¶¶ 16, 19, 22-25, supra. J.Q. fails once again to demonstrate how the delays prejudiced him. ¶ 48 The Department did not petition to terminate J.Q.'s parental rights on the lone assertion that J.Q. failed to comply with the treatment plan. The Department premised its petition to terminate alternatively on § 41-3-609(1)(f)(i) and (ii), MCA, and § 41-3-609(4)(c), MCA. The petition to terminate J.Q.'s parental rights included both bases and thus provided J.Q. adequate notice that his prolonged incarceration represented an additional premise by which the Department sought termination. ¶ 49 J.Q.'s situation contrasts with In re A.T., 2003 MT 154, ¶¶ 24-25, 316 Mont. 255, ¶¶ 24-25, 70 P.3d 1247, ¶¶ 24-25, where we reversed the district court's decision to terminate the incarcerated father's parental rights because the Department had failed to include § 41-3-609(4)(c), MCA, in its termination petition. J.Q.'s prolonged incarceration and the Department's inclusion of § 41-3-609(4)(c) in its termination petition provided the District Court with grounds to terminate J.Q.'s parental rights independent of his failure to comply with a treatment plan. Section 41-3-609(4)(c), MCA; see also ¶ 51, infra. As a result, we need not address errors in the treatment plans alleged by J.Q.