Opinion ID: 886500
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: ¶ 5 On October 23, 2000, the Yellowstone County Attorney's Office, on behalf of the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), filed a Petition for Temporary Investigative Authority and Emergency Protective Services. The petition sought to temporarily remove A.T., a nine month old boy, from his mother's care. DPHHS requested the temporary investigative authority following a parole violation report which indicated that the mother's urine tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana. The mother was pregnant with another child at the time of the positive test. A.T.'s father was incarcerated at the time DPHHS requested the temporary investigative authority. The District Court granted DPHHS's petition on October 24, 2000, and DPHHS arranged for A.T. to live with his paternal grandmother during the investigative period. On November 17, 2000, the District Court extended DPHHS's temporary investigative authority for an additional ninety days, without objection. ¶ 6 On December 10, 2000, the mother gave birth to J.T. On December 22, 2000, the District Court granted DPHHS temporary investigative authority over J.T., without objection from the parents. On February 6, 2001, DPHHS requested that the District Court declare A.T. and J.T. youths in need of care and award temporary custody of the children to DPHHS for a period of six months. The District Court granted DPHHS's motion and ordered the parents to complete treatment plans, discussed in greater detail below. ¶ 7 On November 6, 2001, DPHHS moved the District Court to terminate the parents' parental rights with respect to A.T. and J.T. and grant permanent legal custody of the children to it. DPHHS sought the above relief based upon the parents' failure to comply with the treatment plans and inability to provide for and protect the children. The District Court held hearings on DPHHS's motion on November 30 and December 5, 2001. In late November 2001, the children's mother was sentenced to five years in the Montana Department of Corrections for bail jumping. Further, as of February 2002, the mother awaited a hearing on a petition to revoke a probationary sentence from Yellowstone County on charges of bail jumping and assault on a peace officer. As of the hearing dates, the children's father remained incarcerated. ¶ 8 The District Court entered its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order on February 6, 2002. The court found that the parents did not comply with their treatment plans, the plans were not successful, and that both parents were subject to judicially ordered long-term confinement and will be incarcerated for more than one year. Based, in part, on the long-term incarcerations, the court concluded that the parents' conduct rendering them unfit to parent was not likely to change within a reasonable time. Accordingly, the District Court terminated the parents' parental rights with respect to A.T. and J.T. and granted custody of the children to DPHHS, assigning to DPHHS the right to consent to the children's adoption. Both parents appeal from the District Court's order of termination.