Opinion ID: 4415700
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Government’s Reasonable Efforts

Text: I.I. contends that CFSA did not expend reasonable efforts to assist her in reunification with her son A.I. The crux of I.I.’s argument is that her refusal to obtain mental health treatment and her failure to comply with the case plan was due to her poor relationship with one of the social workers, Ms. DeAnna. I.I. contends that to 26 satisfy its duty of “reasonable efforts,” CFSA should have done more. I.I. argues, for example, that CFSA should have removed Ms. DeAnna as her social worker sooner. I.I. argues that, but for the contentious relationship with CFSA social worker Ms. DeAnna, I.I. would have been able to fulfill the case plan and achieve reunification. I.I.’s argument is unpersuasive and contrary to the record evidence in this case. The record reflects I.I.’s global mistrust of CFSA and her contentious relationship with several other CFSA social workers even after Ms. DeAnna was removed from the case. Ms. DeAnna was one member of a larger CFSA Family Support Team involved in the case, which included several social workers, supervisors, and family support workers. Ms. DeAnna was I.I.’s direct contact for only about two months during the entire case—from around September 2015, following I.I.’s involuntary commitment, until about October 2015 when I.I. ceased communication with CFSA. The permanency goal was not changed until approximately one year later on September 12, 2016. Once I.I. reconnected with CFSA in February 2016, CFSA had already assigned family support worker, Rhonda Davis, to supervise visits, and Ms. DeAnna’s supervisor, Marla Belian, had assumed direct contact with I.I. Ms. DeAnna remained on the case for A.I.’s benefit but had 27 no direct contact with I.I.15 Despite the changes that CFSA made by replacing Ms. DeAnna in her direct role with I.I., I.I.’s behavior did not change. I.I. did not reengage her visits with Dr. Panbehi; she continued to miss visits with A.I., from February 17 to June 1, 2016, and she failed to attend any visit in April 2016. During this time, Ms. DeAnna was completely removed from the case and replaced with social worker Brittani Hawkins. I.I.’s claim that her lack of engagement and participation in her mental health treatment or participation in visits with A.I. was solely the result of the poor relationship with Ms. DeAnna is belied by the record. 15 With A.I.’s substantial health and behavioral challenges due to his mother’s neglect, CFSA deemed it important that he have a healthy and consistent relationship with his social worker and therefore, CFSA’s decision not to completely remove Ms. DeAnna from A.I.’s case is not inconsistent with the agency’s requirement that “the child’s safety and health shall be the paramount concern.” D.C. Code § 4-1301.09a (2012 Repl.). Even after removal from I.I., A.I. had severe health and behavioral struggles in school and in his foster home. A.I. had difficulty engaging socially with his peers, often locked himself in the bathroom, threw daily temper tantrums, was physically aggressive with his peers (stabbed teachers and peers with pencils and threatened them with scissors), and threatened to kill himself and two of his classmates with scissors—A.I. held scissors to his own throat and said “I am going to kill myself.” After a psychiatric evaluation, A.I. was diagnosed with “Reactive Attachment Disorder of Childhood, Impulse Disorder, Unspecified R/O Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Chronic.” A.I. attended weekly individual therapy, was prescribed medication to treat his aggression, and was put on an Individualized Education Plan at school. A.I. also has an eye condition and has to wear a patch and eyeglasses. 28 I.I. also does not articulate what additional measures Ms. DeAnna or CFSA could have undertaken that would have demonstrated “reasonable efforts” other than a blanket statement that CFSA should have done “more.”16 CFSA provided I.I. with a mental health counseling referral to Dr. Panbehi and a transportation subsidy to get to visits with A.I. Additionally, because I.I. already had stable housing and a source of income, CFSA did not make referrals for housing or employment assistance. CFSA’s team of social workers also attempted to reach out to and encourage I.I. However, I.I. rebuffed CFSA’s efforts to communicate with her in any capacity.17 The magistrate judge concluded that the social worker’s efforts were unsuccessful not because they were inadequate, but because they “were completely thwarted by [I.I.]’s refusal to engage with the social worker.” As the magistrate judge noted, 16 At oral argument, the panel asked I.I.’s attorney numerous times what additional measures CFSA could have taken that would have constituted reasonable efforts; I.I.’s attorney could not provide an answer. 17 I.I. was not committed to CFSA, nor was she under the custody and care of CFSA or the court and as such, I.I. retained her constitutional rights to refuse treatment. Therefore, CFSA did not have the authority to infringe upon I.I.’s liberty interests or force I.I. to attend therapy. See, e.g., Washington v. Harper, 494 U.S. 210, 228 (1990) (holding that a state prisoner has a liberty interest, under the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in refusing the administration of psychotropic medication). Compelling I.I. to participate in treatment, or exerting control over I.I. greater than the encouragement and facilitation that CFSA offered, would have infringed upon I.I.’s constitutional rights. “[E]very person has the right, under the common law and the Constitution, to accept or refuse medical treatment.” In re A.C., 573 A.2d 1235, 1247 (D.C. 1990). 29 “[n]o social worker can force a parent in a neglect matter to engage in treatment; all a social worker can do is ensure that the parent has access to treatment.” We hold that CFSA expended “reasonable efforts” to assist I.I. with reunification with A.I. I.I.’s mental health treatment remained the primary focus throughout the case, and her progress was reassessed approximately every six months. See supra note 14. The magistrate judge and CFSA identified I.I.’s primary focus for reunification, to obtain and engage in ongoing mental health treatment. I.I. was present at the review hearings in February and June 2016, and was reminded that her reunification with A.I. was contingent upon her obtaining consistent mental health treatment. For these reasons, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining “that [CFSA’s] efforts constituted reasonable efforts to achieve reunification with the mother.” C. I.I.’s Progress Toward Achieving Reunification Lastly, I.I. argues that the trial court abused its discretion by finding that she did not make adequate progress toward her reunification goal. We disagree. 30 CFSA’s case plan called for mental health treatment and visitation with A.I., and I.I. did not successfully complete either. The record indicates that I.I. failed to make progress on her goal of obtaining mental health treatment. Dr. Panbehi testified that after October 2015, he did not see I.I. regularly and, despite his efforts to maintain contact, he only saw her once in December 2015 and once in January 2016.18 I.I. had access to treatment,19 and was informed on numerous occasions by CFSA and in court during the disposition review hearings that she needed to attend treatment to be reunified with A.I., but the magistrate judge found that I.I. “simply chose not to avail herself of the mental health treatment.” I.I.’s failure to participate in regular and ongoing mental health treatment coupled with her refusal to acknowledge that she had a mental illness at all, were critical factors in the magistrate judge’s determination that I.I. failed to make sufficient progress toward meeting the goals for reunification. 18 During those interactions, Dr. Panbehi stated that I.I. looked disheveled; I.I. admitted to Dr. Panbehi that she was cleansing herself with toxic chemicals again. Dr. Panbehi prescribed I.I. medication at that time but he was unsure if I.I. ever took it. 19 Ms. DeAnna testified that she gave I.I. at least one SmarTrip metro card that she would reload with money to enable I.I. to attend visitation and treatment. 31 The record shows further that I.I. did not regularly attend scheduled visitation with A.I. I.I.’s attendance was inconsistent for the majority of the case prior to the permanency goal change, where she would go for long stretches of time without seeing A.I.20 Specifically, I.I. did not attend any visits with A.I. from November 13, 2015, until February 3, 2016, and for another month from February 3 to March 9, 2016. I.I. then attended three visits and then stopped attending visits from April 6 to May 25, 2016. I.I. also ceased communication with Ms. DeAnna after a supervised visit with A.I. on November 2, 2015. I.I. refused to communicate with Ms. DeAnna even to confirm her attendance at visits with A.I. Ms. DeAnna continued to call, text, and send letters and e-mails to I.I. but was informed by I.I.’s attorney that I.I. did not wish to communicate with Ms. DeAnna. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that I.I. failed to make adequate progress toward the main barrier to reunification, her mental illness.21 20 During the period that the trial court reviewed prior to changing the permanency goal, from September 10, 2015 to September 9, 2016, I.I. attended thirty-five out of fifty-seven scheduled visits with A.I. 21 Finally, I.I. takes issue with the time frame in which the magistrate judge considered evidence for the permanency goal change. I.I. argues that evidence from the neglect trial in October 2015, which included clinical testimony from Dr. Panbehi regarding I.I.’s mental illness, should not have been considered in the 32