Opinion ID: 1290325
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: analysis of father's assignments of error

Text: Given the foregoing determination, we exercise our option of considering the father's assignment of error which the Court of Appeals did not reach. See Coppi v. West Am. Ins. Co., 247 Neb. 1, 524 N.W.2d 804 (1994). As first noted in part I, the father complains that custody of the infant was not placed in his and the mother's care, or his care alone, or in foster care nearer to them. Before proceeding to an analysis of these issues, it is important to remind ourselves that in reviewing any final order of a juvenile court, an appellate court is to try the factual questions de novo on the record, reaching a conclusion independent of the findings of the juvenile court; provided, however, that when the evidence is in conflict, the appellate court considers and may give weight to the fact that the juvenile court observed the witnesses and accepted one version of the facts rather than another. In re Interest of D.M.B., 240 Neb. 349, 481 N.W.2d 905 (1992). See, also, In re Interest of J.T.B. and H.J.T., 245 Neb. 624, 514 N.W.2d 635 (1994); In re Interest of D.D.P., 235 Neb. 864, 458 N.W.2d 193 (1990) (adjudication under § 43-247(3)(a)). Resolution of the father's complaints is controlled by Neb.Rev.Stat. § 43-285 (Cum. Supp.1990), which provides: (1) When the court awards a juvenile to the care of the Department of Social Services... the juvenile shall, unless otherwise ordered, become a ward and be subject to the guardianship of the department.... [T]he Department of Social Services shall have authority, by and with the assent of the court, to determine the care, placement, medical services, psychiatric services, training, and expenditures on behalf of each juvenile committed to it.... (2) Following an adjudication hearing at which a juvenile is adjudged to be under subdivision (3) of section 43-247, the court may order the department to prepare and file with the court a proposed plan for the care, placement, and services which are to be provided to such juvenile and his or her family. If any other party, including, but not limited to, the guardian ad litem, parents, county attorney, or custodian, proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the department's plan is not in the juvenile's best interests, the court shall disapprove the department's plan. The court may modify the plan, order that an alternative plan be developed, or implement another plan that is in the juvenile's best interests. We have held that a juvenile court has the discretionary power to prescribe a reasonable plan for parental rehabilitation to correct the conditions underlying the adjudication that a child is a juvenile within the Nebraska Juvenile Code. In re Interest of L.O. and B.O., 229 Neb. 889, 429 N.W.2d 388 (1988); In re Interest of L.H., 227 Neb. 857, 420 N.W.2d 318 (1988). While § 43-285 grants the juvenile court discretionary power over a plan proposed by the department, it also grants a preference in favor of such a plan. In order for the court to disapprove the department's plan, a party must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the department's plan is not in the child's best interests. However, In re Interest of J.S., A.C., and C.S., 227 Neb. 251, 272-73, 417 N.W.2d 147, 161 (1987), announced a procedural rule requiring a juvenile court to hold a hearing before entering an order containing a rehabilitative plan for a parent: [A]fter an adjudication under § 43-247(3)(a) of the Nebraska Juvenile Code and before entering an order containing a rehabilitative plan for a parent, a juvenile court shall inform the juvenile's parent that the court may order a rehabilitative plan and thereafter shall hold an evidential hearing to determine reasonable provisions material to the parental plan's rehabilitative objective of correcting, eliminating, or ameliorating the situation or condition on which the adjudication has been obtained. Because the evidential hearing for a rehabilitative plan is a dispositional hearing, the Nebraska Evidence Rules, §§ 27-101 to 27-1103, shall not apply at such hearing. The record of proceedings before a juvenile court shall contain the evidence presented at the dispositional hearing held for the purpose of the parental rehabilitative plan. The juvenile court's specific findings of facts supporting the provisions contained in the parental rehabilitative plan shall be stated in the record. In the present case, the county court complied with those requirements. At the adjudication hearing, the county court explained that if it were to find that the infant was a juvenile falling within the provisions of § 43-247(3)(a), the proceedings would progress to the dispositional stage, during which the court has a wide variety of options. The county court also explained to the parents that the department would be preparing a plan and a report to help the court determine the infant's placement, and instructed the parents that the court would need information about their living arrangements and their respective homes to determine the best placement for the infant. Although the infant was only 5 months old at the time of the dispositional hearing, she had been living in the third placement during her short life (the parents' home, the maternal grandparents' home, and the foster home). The infant had shown continued improvement while in foster care and continued to become hysterical when in the presence of her natural parents. Thus, the record supports the continuation of the infant's placement in the stable environment provided by her foster parents. Moreover, the department's plan focuses on attempting to correct the situations and conditions on which the adjudication was based. It provided for continued therapy for the mother's mental health problems and recommended treatment for the father's problems with anger. These were the conditions which in part led to the separation of the natural parents and the unstable environment in which the infant had been forced to live and had failed to thrive. We conclude, independent of the findings of the county court, that continued placement of the infant in the present foster home is in the infant's best interests and that adoption of the department's plan was reasonable under the circumstances.