Opinion ID: 884826
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Did the second treatment plan supersede the first plan?

Text: ¶ 23 The foregoing raises a key point of law in interpreting the legislative mandate of § 41-3-609, MCA. Under the factual circumstances, did the second treatment plan supersede the prior treatment plan? In other words, once the court approved a substantially different second plan in October of 1997, to take into account Amanda's incarceration, did the evidence of compliance with the goals and tasks of the first plan, or its success, become irrelevant in addressing the termination criteria under § 41-3-609(1)(e)(i)? ¶ 24 Our case law provides some guidance. For example, in In re J.N., 1999 MT 64, 293 Mont. 524, 977 P.2d 317, this Court determined that a court-approved treatment plan does not necessarily have to take into account the parent's incarceration in order to be deemed appropriate. We concluded that a decisive factor in determining whether a plan is appropriate is whether it is directed at problems facing the parent and the child. In re J.N., ¶ 16. We stated: [A]lthough we agree ... that most of her treatment plan was designed for a person who was not incarcerated, the record shows that her treatment plan was drafted when she had a chance of being released from prison within four months and that she was told that some of the programs offered at the prison where she was incarcerated would satisfy the requirements of her treatment plan. In re J.N., ¶ 19. Here, however, we are confronted with a strictly non-incarceration treatment plan, some of which clearly could not be complied with or successfully completed by Amanda while in prison, followed by a second treatment plan, which was specifically tailored to Amanda's incarceration, and was therefore far more appropriate in addressing the problems facing the parent and the child. The second plan does not incorporate by reference the goals and tasks of the first plan, or suggest that compliance with the first plan would have any bearing on whether Amanda could retain her parental rights. Rather, the second plan states: The social worker will make a recommendation to the Youth Court as to whether the child should be returned to [the mother's] home. This recommendation will be contingent upon [the mother's] completion of the tasks described in this agreement, her release from prison, and the Department's recommendation that she is adequately capable of caring for her children. ¶ 25 In reading the foregoing, it would only have been reasonable for Amanda to presume that compliance with its terms, and a finding that the plan was successful, may have eventually led to the resumption of her parental rights to M.A.E. Furthermore, we also identified in In re J.N. the factor of whether the parent was represented by counsel at the time the plan was approved. See In re J.N., ¶ 16. Here, Amanda apparently was not represented by counsel until after the court approved the plan. ¶ 26 Additionally, we are mindful here of a line of parental rights termination cases, several of which were cited by Amanda, where we emphasized that a natural parent's right to care and custody of a child is a fundamental liberty interest, which must be protected by fundamentally fair procedures. In re J.F., 1999 MT 131, ¶ 15, 294 Mont. 494, ¶ 15, 982 P.2d 1011, ¶ 15(quoting Matter of R.B. (1985), 217 Mont. 99, 103, 703 P.2d 846, 848). See also Matter of W.Z. (1997), 285 Mont. 16, 29, 946 P.2d 125, 133; Matter of J.S. (1994), 269 Mont. 170, 178-79, 887 P.2d 719, 724 (Gray, J., concurring). We therefore conclude that the second treatment plan, approved by the District Court on October 27, 1997, superseded the first treatment plan approved June 2, 1997, as a matter of law. Accordingly, in determining whether Amanda complied with an appropriate treatment plan or whether the plan was successful, pursuant to § 41-3-609(1)(e)(i), or whether she substantially failed to successfully complete or meet the goals of a treatment plan, pursuant to § 41-3-609(1)(f), we conclude the District Court should have considered only the second court-approved plan. ¶ 27 Applying this conclusion to the record, we hold that the District Court abused its discretion when it incorrectly concluded that Amanda had not complied with the treatment plans, meaning both, and that both were not successful. We next turn to whether the Districts Court's findings and conclusions regarding the second treatment plan, alone, were sufficient to terminate Amanda's parental rights.