Opinion ID: 2586510
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Placement with Foster Parents v. Uncle and Aunt

Text: [¶ 28] The State and the GAL characterize the kinship care policies articulated by the Social Security Act and DFS as merely precatory, i.e., they are recommended and should be considered. In this case the GAL and DFS claim that they did consider them and determined that they were not feasible because of the geography separating Casper, Wyoming, and Miles City, Montana. We are unable to accept these characterizations given the high stakes in play here. Tools, resources, and an Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children are available to achieve just the result that was preferred. 2 Haralambie, supra at § 12:29 (Interstate Placement and the ICPC). The district court concluded that the outcome of this case was fixed early on in the proceedings when Mother chose to do her reunification work in Casper, during which time the children were placed with the Foster Parents. By the time that concluded in failure, the district court found that it was too late to go back and consider the kinship placement. We are unable to agree with those conclusions, although we once again emphasize that the district court was remarkably professional, thorough, and patient in creating a complete record, despite the resistance to the flow of information shown by the GAL and DFS, and other factors. For these reasons we are compelled to reverse the district court order.