Opinion ID: 1539660
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Barr's Interaction With DFS

Text: Barr first came to the attention of DFS in 1998, when DFS discovered domestic violence between Barr and the Mother during an investigation regarding a sibling of Nancy. The Mother informed DFS that she had to be hospitalized because of a physical assault by Barr and that Barr had been drinking and possibly using drugs at the time of the incident. Barr was later incarcerated for the assault of the Mother. On June 9, 1999, when the Mother was pregnant with Nancy, Barr became belligerent while informing DFS he had no intention of case planning to be reunified with Nancy once she was born. On June 23, 1999, the Mother told DFS that Barr had gotten `out of control' with her and she had to call the police. According to the Mother, Barr was subsequently arrested and a no contact order was put in place between them once he was released on bail. On October 9, 2007, Barr signed a case plan for reunification with his daughter, in anticipation of his pending release from prison. The case plan required that Barr complete the following elements: obtain stable housing; obtain stable employment; comply with probation requirements and incur no new criminal charges; complete a parenting class; work with a parent aide; undergo a substance abuse evaluation and complete any recommended treatment; and undergo a domestic violence and anger management evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. The domestic violence requirement was based on the history of domestic violence between Barr and the Mother. Barr was released from incarceration on October 10, 2007. He called his DFS worker on October 15 and informed her that he would meet with her at the DFS office within a couple of days. Barr never appeared for the meeting. Barr explained at the August 2008 TPR hearing that the scheduled meeting with DFS conflicted with an appointment with his probation officer and he called to reschedule the appointment with DFS, but no one called him back. DFS claims that it was unsuccessful in its attempts to contact Barr at any of his listed numbers. As a result, the meeting was never rescheduled. There was no contact between Barr and DFS from October 2007 to May 2008, and DFS was unaware of his whereabouts. During that time, Barr moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he was incarcerated from January 2008 to April 2008. Barr did not contact DFS again until he called DFS on May 12, 2008. During that phone call, the DFS worker discussed the elements of the case plan with Barr and informed him that it would be his obligation to make sure he met ... the goals of his case prior to the August 2008 TPR hearing. Barr was informed he would have to complete the elements of his case plan independently because the goal for Nancy had already been changed to termination of parental rights at the December 2007 permanency hearing for which he failed to appear. Barr had no further contact with DFS between the May 2008 phone call and the August 2008 TPR hearing.