Court Opinion

ID: 9956219
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-01 15:16:44.884662+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:15:06.363108
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPREME COURT, STATE OF WYOMING

                                   2024 WY 37

                                                         APRIL TERM, A.D. 2024

                                                                 April 1, 2024

IN THE MATTER OF THE TERMINATION
OF PARENTAL RIGHTS TO: PML and
EGL, minor children,

CHELSEY MARIE SMITH,

Appellant
(Respondent),
                                                    S-23-0168
v.

STATE OF WYOMING, ex rel.
DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES,

Appellee
(Petitioner).

                  Appeal from the District Court of Sublette County
                   The Honorable Suzannah G. Robinson, Judge

Representing Appellant:
      Donna D. Domonkos, Domonkos & Thorpe, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee:
      Bridget L. Hill, Wyoming Attorney General; Christina F. McCabe, Deputy Attorney
      General; Wendy S. Ross, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Kristine D. Rude,
      Assistant Attorney General. Argument by Ms. Rude.

Office of the Guardian ad Litem:
       Joseph R. Belcher, Director, and Kimberly Skoutary Johnson, Chief Trial and
       Appellate Counsel.
Before FOX, C.J., and *KAUTZ, BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, and FENN, JJ.

* Justice Kautz retired from judicial office effective March 26, 2024, and, pursuant to Article 5, § 5 of the Wyoming
Constitution and Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 5-1-106(f) (2023), he was reassigned to act on this matter on March 27, 2024.

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Third.
Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne,
Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors so that correction may be made before
final publication in the permanent volume.
BOOMGAARDEN, Justice.

[¶1] Chelsey Marie Smith (Mother) appeals the district court’s order granting the
Wyoming Department of Family Services’ (the Department) petition to terminate her
parental rights to her children, PML and EGL, under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii)
and (v) (2023). 1 We affirm the court’s termination order under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-
309(a)(iii).

                                                     ISSUE

[¶2]       We state the dispositive issue as:

                   Whether the record contains sufficient evidence to support the
                   district court’s determination that the Department made
                   reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to rehabilitate Mother as
                   required by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii).

                                                     FACTS

[¶3] PML and EGL were born in 2014 and 2016, respectively. In late July 2018, in
Sublette County, Mother’s neighbor called law enforcement to report hearing one of the
children crying for over an hour and not knowing where Mother was located. When a
police officer arrived at Mother’s apartment, he found PML alone outside in cold weather
and EGL alone inside. Mother eventually returned to the apartment and was arrested for
child endangerment. The children were placed with their maternal grandparents.

Juvenile Court Neglect Proceedings

[¶4] The county attorney filed a petition alleging Mother neglected the children. The
juvenile court promptly held an initial hearing and continued to place the children in the
physical custody of their grandparents under the supervision of the Department. The court
allowed Mother to retain legal custody. The court also continued the hearing for Mother
to obtain counsel. After doing so, Mother denied the neglect allegations.

[¶5] The Department completed a Predisposition Report (PDR) in September. The PDR
discussed Mother’s family history and noted Mother lived alone with the children at the
time of their removal. The PDR stated Mother needed financial support and would benefit
from career training. It also identified three issues for Mother to address that impacted the
safety of the children: (1) parental supervision, (2) parenting skills and application, and (3)
healthy coping skills. The PDR did not include reports from Mother that she suffered from
any mental health or substance abuse issues, although Mother did indicate she had

1
    The children’s father relinquished his parental rights and is not a party to this appeal.

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participated in counseling when she was younger. That month, Mother began a parenting
course and individual counseling sessions.

[¶6] In October, Mother signed an initial family case plan with the Department. The
case plan’s stated goal was for Mother to “develop mental health stability, coping skills
and parenting skills so she can take care of [the children] in an appropriate and effective
manner.” The case plan required Mother to complete a mental health evaluation by
October 30, 2018, to complete a Department-approved parenting course, and to attend ten
counseling sessions by the end of the year.

[¶7] In early November, the juvenile court held adjudication in abeyance after Mother
and the Department entered a consent decree. The consent decree required Mother to
complete the same tasks articulated in the Department’s initial case plan. By the end of
2018, Mother only made minor progress on these tasks and failed to complete them by the
consent decree’s deadline. The juvenile court revoked the consent decree in January 2019.
Meanwhile, in Mother’s criminal case, the district court deferred her child endangerment
charge and placed her on unsupervised probation for one year.

[¶8] In early 2019, Mother quit her job “due to stress” and was evicted from her
apartment. Mother then moved briefly to Cheyenne but did not provide the Department an
updated address. In March, Mother visited Sublette County and took the children from
their grandparents’ home despite only being allowed supervised visitation. Law
enforcement stopped Mother’s car and arrested her for custodial interference. The arresting
officer observed PML buckled with a lap-and-shoulder belt rather than a car seat. Two
days later, the juvenile court granted the Department legal custody of the children, and the
Department placed them in nonrelative foster care. Mother later admitted the neglect
allegations in the county attorney’s petition and the juvenile court adjudicated the children
to be neglected.

[¶9] Between March and August, Mother moved back to Sublette County, made some
progress in her parenting class, and again started to attend weekly individual counseling.
After months of delay, Mother completed the mental health evaluation. However, the
evaluator could not reach a diagnosis because Mother provided inaccurate or incomplete
information. Mother also informed the evaluator she had no interest in counseling services.
The evaluator nevertheless recommended Mother continue her individual counseling and
complete a full psychological evaluation.

[¶10] In July, the juvenile court ordered Mother to obtain a new mental health evaluation.
The court also ordered her to participate in individual counseling, family counseling, and
parenting classes as recommended by any evaluations and the Department. The court
further established a concurrent permanency plan of family reunification and guardianship
or adoption. Later that month, the court held a permanency hearing and reaffirmed the
permanency plan. Mother continued to attend individual counseling and had sessions with

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the children to work on her parenting skills. She also regularly attended scheduled
visitation with the children and the Department arranged for a therapist to go into Mother’s
home to work with her once she obtained housing. Mother had obtained housing by
September.

[¶11] In November, Mother completed the second mental health evaluation. In the
evaluation, Dr. Mark Gibson diagnosed Mother with a mild intellectual disability, other
specified bipolar and related disorder (mixed testing results and symptom denial), and
features of narcissistic personality disorder. He also noted one of the tests indicated Mother
had some possible substance abuse issues, though nothing else known about Mother
suggested “the immediate need for substance abuse treatment.” Dr. Gibson recommended
Mother continue individual counseling and complete a parenting course. He also
recommended that Mother be assessed by a psychiatric professional to see if medication
would be helpful for mood disorder issues; however, he acknowledged Mother had “no
desire” to take medication and “none may be necessary.”

[¶12] In December, Mother’s visits and phone calls with the children had become
inconsistent. As a result, the Department decided to discontinue Mother’s phone calls with
the children to focus on weekly, in-person visits. Mother progressed on her case plan in
the first half of 2020. Mother once again regularly attended visits and continued to attend
mental health counseling. She also completed her parenting class. However, during this
time, Mother lost her job after she “put her hands” on another employee and had involved
herself with a person who had a criminal background without informing the Department.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in Spring 2020, Mother maintained sporadic
telephone and video contact with the children. In May, she was able to attend her first in-
person visit since the pandemic began.

[¶13] The Department then permitted Mother unsupervised visits with the children in
public locations, such as parks. Mother was soon allowed to have unsupervised visits at
her home and the Department allowed overnight visits by mid-July. The juvenile court had
scheduled a permanency hearing for mid-August but continued it one month out to give
Mother the opportunity to demonstrate her ability to parent the children.

[¶14] As Mother moved toward overnight visits, the Department learned Mother acquired
a criminal charge for vandalizing a public restroom. The Department also received a report
from the children’s foster parents that the children threatened the foster mother and used
poor language after returning from visits with Mother. Mother also caused PML to miss
three days of the first week of school and accrue one tardy, had difficulties paying her rent
despite having the money to pay it, and regularly threatened to hurt the children’s foster
mother. Further, on one overnight visit, Mother had the children spend the night at their
grandfather’s home without the Department’s approval.

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[¶15] In mid-September, the juvenile court held the previously scheduled permanency
hearing. The Department recommended the permanency plan be changed to adoption. The
court ultimately accepted the Department’s recommendation and ordered that the
permanency plan be changed to adoption. Mother did not appeal this order, and failed to
make any progress on her case plan after the change. She continued to receive visitation
with the children, but she also continued to engage in criminal activity. In March 2021,
the court relieved the Department from making further efforts to reunify Mother with the
children.

District Court Termination Proceedings

[¶16] In January 2022, the Department filed a petition seeking to terminate Mother’s
parental rights to the children. The district court appointed a guardian ad litem to represent
the children. In May, at her request, the court appointed counsel for Mother.

[¶17] The district court held a five-day bench trial in January 2023. The Department
offered exhibits and presented testimony from four caseworkers, three police officers,
Mother’s probation officer, a school employee, Mother’s counselor, and Dr. Gibson.
Mother and the guardian ad litem did not present testimony but both cross-examined the
Department’s witnesses. Mother did not testify but offered exhibits into the record. In
February 2023, the district court issued an oral ruling terminating Mother’s parental rights
under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii) and (v). 2 The court incorporated its oral ruling
into a written order later that month.

[¶18] Mother timely appealed.

2
    Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii) and (v) state:

                   (a) The parent-child legal relationship may be terminated if . . . the
                   following facts [are] established by clear and convincing evidence:
                   ...
                   (iii) The child has been abused or neglected by the parent and reasonable
                   efforts by an authorized agency or mental health professional have been
                   unsuccessful in rehabilitating the family or the family has refused
                   rehabilitative treatment, and it is shown that the child's health and safety
                   would be seriously jeopardized by remaining with or returning to the
                   parent[.]
                   ...
                   (v) The child has been in foster care under the responsibility of the state of
                   Wyoming for fifteen (15) of the most recent twenty-two (22) months, and
                   a showing that the parent is unfit to have custody and control of the child[.]

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                                    STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶19] We analyze whether the district court had sufficient evidence to terminate Mother’s
parental rights under the following standard:

                Due to the tension between the fundamental liberty of familial
                association and the compelling state interest in protecting the
                welfare of children, application of statutes for termination of
                parental rights is a matter for strict scrutiny. As part of this
                strict scrutiny standard, a case for termination of parental rights
                must be established by clear and convincing evidence. Clear
                and convincing evidence is that kind of proof that would
                persuade a trier of fact that the truth of a contention is highly
                probable. Rigorous though this standard may be, we apply our
                traditional principles of evidentiary review when a party
                challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting
                termination. Thus, we examine the evidence in the light most
                favorable to the party prevailing below, assuming all favorable
                evidence to be true while discounting conflicting evidence
                presented by the unsuccessful party.

Matter of ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 18, 525 P.3d 627, 630–31 (Wyo. 2023) (quoting Matter
of JPL, 2021 WY 94, ¶ 21, 493 P.3d 174, 179–80 (Wyo. 2021)).

                                            DISCUSSION

[¶20] The district court terminated Mother’s parental rights on two separate grounds:
Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii) and (v). We have long held we may affirm on either
ground. ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 18, 525 P.3d at 631 (citing JPL, ¶ 21, 493 P.3d at 180);
SD v. Carbon Cnty. Dept. of Family Servs., 2002 WY 168, ¶ 6, 57 P.3d 1235, 1238 (Wyo.
2002)). Mother squarely frames her appeal around the first ground—Wyo. Stat. Ann. §
14-2-309(a)(iii). 3

[¶21] To terminate Mother’s parental rights under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii), the
Department is required to present clear and convincing evidence of three elements: “(1)
abusive treatment or neglect by the parent; (2) unsuccessful [reasonable] efforts to
rehabilitate the family; and (3) the child's health and safety would be seriously jeopardized

3
  Mother asserts the Department is required to make reasonable efforts under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-
309(a)(v). This position was endorsed in a special concurrence in Matter of BAD, 2019 WY 83, ¶¶ 22–39,
446 P.3d 222, 227–33 (Wyo. 2019). Mother, however, fails to develop any argument with citations to
controlling legal authority that reasonable efforts are required under § 14-2-309(a)(v). Because we affirm
on other grounds we do not address or resolve this claim. ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 18, 525 P.3d at 631
(citation omitted).

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by remaining with or returning to the parent.” ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 20, 525 P.3d at 631
(quoting In re ARC, 2011 WY 119, ¶ 16, 258 P.3d 704, 708 (Wyo. 2011)). Mother does
not challenge elements (1) and (3) on appeal. Our focus is therefore on whether the
Department made reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to rehabilitate Mother and reunify
her with the children.

[¶22] We assess on a case-by-case basis whether sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate
the Department made reasonable efforts to rehabilitate the family. Id. at ¶ 21, 525 P.3d at
631 (citing Int. of BP, 2022 WY 128, ¶ 19, 518 P.3d 698, 703 (Wyo. 2022); In re FM, 2007
WY 128, ¶¶ 11–14, 163 P.3d 844, 848 (Wyo. 2007)). “[T]o demonstrate that its efforts
were reasonable, [the Department] must make clear the reasons that necessitated the
[children’s] out of home placement in the first place, and then show how its efforts were
directed at remedying those reasons.” Id. (quoting BP, ¶ 16, 518 P.3d at 702). As such,
we must consider whether the Department’s services to Mother “have been accessible,
available, and appropriate.” Id. (citation omitted); see also Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-3-440(e)
(“Reasonable efforts determinations shall include whether or not services to the family
have been accessible, available and appropriate.”).

The Case Plan’s Objectives

[¶23] The record shows the Department’s efforts were focused on the case plan’s
permanency goal of reunifying Mother with the children. The Department developed an
initial case plan and updated it multiple times throughout the case. It initially identified
three general objectives for Mother to address: mental health stability, coping skills, and
parenting skills. In later plans, the Department also included obtaining employment, stable
housing, and regular visitation with the children to build their connection with Mother.
Each of these objectives related to the basis for the children’s removal from Mother in the
first instance and/or impacted their continued safety, well-being, and permanency.

[¶24] Mother argues the Department failed to add substance abuse as an objective in the
case plan and thus it failed to make reasonable efforts to address that issue. Notably,
substance abuse was not a basis for the children’s removal. See ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 20,
525 P.3d at 631 (stating the Department’s efforts must be focused on “the reasons that
necessitated the [child’s] out of home placement in the first place” (citation omitted)).
Further, the record does not show Mother had substance abuse problems that prevented her
from achieving her case plan goals or that the Department was aware of any such problems.
Id. at ¶ 18, 525 P.3d at 630–31.

[¶25] Mother also contends the Department erred when it did not add a psychiatric
assessment for medication as part of her case plan. To this point, the Department required
Mother to complete a mental health evaluation. After Dr. Gibson completed his evaluation
and diagnosed Mother with a mild intellectual disability, he opined a psychiatric
assessment would be helpful, but medication may not be necessary. Dr. Gibson also

                                             6
acknowledged that Mother had “no desire” to take medication. Following this evaluation,
the Department chose not to overwhelm Mother by adding an additional case plan
requirement because her probation officer was pursuing a psychiatric assessment through
her criminal case. Examining the evidence in the light most favorable to the Department,
we conclude the Department’s decision not to add a psychiatric assessment to Mother’s
case plan was reasonable. See ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 18, 525 P.3d at 630–31 (citation
omitted).

[¶26] We now consider whether the Department’s efforts to rehabilitate Mother by
assisting her with the case plan’s stated objectives and required tasks were reasonable. Id.
at ¶ 20, 525 P.3d at 631.

Mental Health Stability and Coping Skills

[¶27] From the outset of the juvenile proceedings, the case plan required Mother to obtain
a mental health evaluation. The Department initially located an evaluator, but Mother
delayed taking the evaluation for several months and missed the deadlines set out in the
case plan and consent decree. When Mother eventually completed the first evaluation, the
evaluator could not reach a diagnosis because Mother had arrived thirty minutes late to her
appointment, did not bring the required paperwork, and misleadingly presented herself in
a better light. Mother did not complete a valid mental health evaluation until November
2019, over fifteen months after the children had been removed.

[¶28] For this reason, the Department could not tailor its initial efforts based on any
diagnosis. Nonetheless, it worked closely with Mother to ensure she understood and had
the ability to complete the case plan’s requirements. For example, the caseworkers
frequently met with Mother in-person and, at times, met with her multiple times a week.
The Department also adjusted the case plan’s tasks to be more manageable for Mother—
adjusting Mother’s visitation with the children to help facilitate her regular attendance and
tailoring case plan requirements based on how many tasks Mother could work on without
becoming overwhelmed.

[¶29] The Department also assisted Mother in keeping track of case plan tasks, important
appointments, and other activities by writing what Mother needed to remember on note
cards, providing a journal, developing a calendar, and suggesting other options she could
use to stay organized. Further, once Mother was diagnosed with a mild intellectual
disability, the Department continued to tailor the case plan to Mother’s needs. 4 It continued
meeting with Mother in person and arranged for Mother to visit her children in person to
4
  Mother argues the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required the Department to accommodate her
intellectual disability as part of its reasonable efforts for rehabilitation. However, Mother does not cite to
any specific ADA provisions or explain what disabilities and related accommodations the Department
should have considered. We therefore decline to consider Mother’s argument. Evans, 2023 WY 55, ¶ 44,
530 P.3d at 313 (citation omitted).

                                                      7
avoid her becoming overwhelmed by a combined schedule of in-person and telephone
visits.

[¶30] Concerning Mother’s individual counseling requirement, the Department
recommended a mental health provider who had experience working with clients with
intellectual disabilities. Mother began her counseling sessions in September 2018, but her
attendance was sporadic, and she failed to complete the required ten sessions prior to the
consent decree’s deadline. When Mother moved to Cheyenne, the Department successfully
referred her to another provider but Mother attended only two of five scheduled sessions.
When Mother returned to Sublette County, the Department contacted her former provider
so Mother could promptly resume individual counseling sessions. When her provider
retired in July 2020, the Department further assisted Mother in finding a new provider.
Despite these efforts, Mother acknowledged she was merely “jumping through the hoops”
to complete the case plan requirement.

Parenting Skills

[¶31] The case plan also required Mother to complete a parenting class. In 2018, Mother
began an individual parenting class with her mental health provider. The provider also
conducted family sessions to allow Mother to demonstrate her parenting skills and obtain
immediate feedback in her individual therapy sessions. The Department also asked the
provider to perform hands-on parenting education during Mother’s supervised visits with
the children.

[¶32] Mother failed to complete the parenting class by the end of December 2018 as the
initial case plan and consent decree required. At that time, she indicated she did not need
parenting classes and did not learn anything from reading the parenting book the
Department provided. Mother asked the Department if she could instead attend online
parenting classes. The Department declined, believing Mother needed accountability from
an in-person class. While the Department tried to find a local mental health provider who
could teach in-person classes in Cheyenne, Mother nevertheless completed an online
parenting class. Mother did not complete the in-person parenting class with her mental
health provider in Sublette County until May 2020.

[¶33] The Department scheduled several visitations between Mother and the children,
both supervised and unsupervised, as well as phone calls, to give Mother an opportunity to
demonstrate her parenting skills and maintain a connection with them. Mother’s
participation in the regularly scheduled phone calls was inconsistent. For example, during
the COVID pandemic, the Department facilitated phone and video visitations. Mother
could have had up to five phone or video visits per week but missed several of these visits.
To address Mother’s inconsistent participation, the Department stopped scheduling the
phone calls and, when necessary, reduced the number of visits to accommodate Mother’s
concerns about the overwhelming nature of the schedule. By May 2020, Mother again

                                             8
made progress and the Department resumed Mother’s unsupervised visits with the children,
which eventually lead to overnight visits.

Employment and Stable Housing

[¶34] The Department identified Mother’s ability to financially support and provide
housing to the children as potential barriers to reunification. The case plan therefore
required Mother to obtain employment and stable housing. In 2018, after Mother quit her
job out of frustration, the Department referred her to vocational rehabilitation in the same
facility where Mother received counseling services. It also encouraged her to identify
available child care for the children during the day as preparation for the potential return
of the children. Later in the case, the Department assisted Mother in obtaining a
caseworker from the Department of Workforce Services, reviewed Mother’s resume, and
helped her track job applications. The Department’s efforts initially succeeded as Mother
was able to find employment between 2019 and 2020. Additionally, because Mother was
evicted from her apartment in early 2019, the Department required Mother to research
affordable housing options and notify the Department which housing she was considering.
When Mother eventually obtained housing, the Department worked with Mother to form a
budget to help her pay rent.

                                     CONCLUSION

[¶35] The record demonstrates the Department made numerous efforts to help Mother
improve her mental health, demonstrate her parenting skills, obtain and sustain
employment, and create a safe home for her children. Mother made occasional progress
which ultimately delayed the Department from seeking to terminate her parental rights, but
after almost three years she could not consistently abide by or achieve the objectives set
out in the Department’s case plan—she actively resisted it at times—and was unable to
create a safe and stable environment for reunification with the children. For example,
Mother waited over a year before completing a valid mental health evaluation, considered
her mental health counseling to be a waste of time, had a pattern of inconsistent
employment either from quitting or being fired, failed to pay rent despite having the funds
to do so, engaged in criminal activity, and the Department received reports the children
used inappropriate language around their foster parents when they returned from Mother’s
care. The Department also learned that Mother had caused one of the children to miss
several days of school during a series of overnight visitations, she actively threatened the
children’s foster mother, and she had the children spend the night with their grandparents
without Department approval.

[¶36] Under circumstances like these, “[w]hen the rights of a parent and the rights of a
child are on a collision course, the rights of the parent must yield.” ALRW, 2023 WY 20,
¶ 36, 525 P.3d at 634 (quoting JPL, 2021 WY 94, ¶ 62, 493 P.3d at 186). Mother has a
fundamental right to raise her children, but “the children have a right to stability and

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permanency in their family relationships.” Id. Viewing the evidence in the light most
favorable to the Department, clear and convincing evidence supports that the Department
made reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to rehabilitate Mother and reunify her with the
children under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-2-309(a)(iii). ALRW, 2023 WY 20, ¶ 18, 525 P.3d at
630–31 (citation omitted).

[¶37] We affirm on that ground.

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