Court Opinion

ID: 9782123
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 17:59:58.049184+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:48.507187
License: Public Domain

Judge GRATTON
specially concurring.
I write to comment on the timing of the filing of the petition for termination in this case and its effect on the issue of neglect as the basis for termination. Doe objected to *67the termination proceedings as being premature, since the fifteen-month period set out in Idaho Code § 16-1629(9) had not lapsed.1 The magistrate, citing Idaho Juvenile Rule 48, overruled the objection stating that proceedings could be initiated at any time. My purpose here is simply to explore, particular to neglect as the basis for termination, the intersection of the time frames in the Child Protective Act (C.P.A.), I.C. § 16-1601, et seq., the Termination of Parent and Child Relationship statute, I.C. § 16-2001, et seq., and the associated Idaho Juvenile Rules.
At the front end of the termination time frame spectrum are cases involving “aggravated circumstances,” as defined in I.C. § 16-1619(6)(d).2 The court may find aggravated circumstances at the adjudicatory hearing, conducted no later than thirty days after filing a petition invoking the jurisdiction of the court under the C.P.A., I.C. § 16-1619. Absent compelling reasons, a petition for termination in the case of abandonment or aggravated circumstances must be filed within sixty days of such determination. I.C. § 16-1624. Thus, in those egregious cases, a petition for termination is to be filed within ninety days of the initial C.P.A. petition.
Pursuant to I.C. § 16-1619(4), a child may come within the court’s jurisdiction upon a finding of the existence of one of the grounds set out in I.C. § 16-1603, which includes a neglected child. In this context, “neglected” is defined as:
(25) “Neglected” means a child:
(a) Who is without proper parental care and control, or subsistence, medical or other care or control necessary for this well-being because of the conduct or omission of his parents, guardian or other custodian or their neglect or refusal to provide them ...; or
(b) Whose parents, guardian or other custodian are unable to discharge their responsibilities to and for the child and, as a result of such inability, the child lacks the parental care necessary for his health, safety or well-being.
I.C. § 16-1602(25).
In every case in which a child is determined to be within the jurisdiction of the court, a written case plan is to be prepared and filed with the court no later than sixty days after the child is removed from the home or thirty days after the adjudicatory hearing, whichever occurs first. I.C. § 16-1621(1). The case plan shall set forth reasonable efforts which will be made to make it possible for the child to return home and a concurrent plan for alternative permanent placement. I.C. § 16-1621(3). The case plan shall be approved by order of the court and, except in the aggravated circumstances situation, provide that reasonable efforts shall be made to reunify the family or, alternatively, complete the steps necessary for permanent placement. I.C. § 16-1621(4). A hearing to review the progress of the case and permanency plan shall be conducted at least every six months following the taking of jurisdiction by the court. I.C. § 16-1622(3). A hearing to review the permanency plan shall be conducted prior to twelve months from the date the child is removed from the home or from the date the court takes jurisdiction, whichever occurs first. I.C. § 16-1622(4).3 Thus, from the filing of the petition, *68there is, generally, a thirty-day period to the adjudicatory hearing, followed by another thirty-day period to the filing of the case and permanency plan, followed by review hearings at six month intervals and a permanency plan hearing by the end of one year. The purpose of the case plan is to identify and undertake steps necessary to create or restore a situation in which the child can be returned to his/her home and parental care. Reasonable efforts toward reunification are required by the C.P.A. The purpose of the concurrent permanency plan is to identify and undertake steps necessary to create an alternative permanent living arrangement for the child, should it be necessary.
If the child has been placed in the legal custody of the Department or under its protective supervision pursuant to I.C. § 16-1619, the Department may petition the court for termination of the parent and child relationship in accordance with chapter 20, title 16, Idaho Code. I.C. § 16-1624.4 Termination may be granted if the parent has neglected the child and termination is in the best interest of the child. I.C. § 16-2005(a)(2). “Neglected,” in this context is defined in I.C. § 16-2002(3) as:
(a) Conduct as defined in section 16-1602(25), Idaho Code; or
(b) The parent(s) has failed to comply with the court’s orders in a child protecfive act case or the case plan, and reunification of the child with his or her parentis) has not occurred within the time standards set forth in section 16-1629(9), Idaho Code.
(Emphasis added.) Looking first to I.C. § 16-2002(3)(b), it is important to note that the definition of neglected incorporates the time standards of I.C. § 16-1629(9). The time standards become an element of proof, not just a rebuttable presumption regarding the timing of filing a petition for termination. Thus, in order for the Department to prove that the child is neglected under I.C. § 16-2002(3)(b), as I read the statute, it must demonstrate that reunification efforts were pursued for not less than fifteen (15) out of the last twenty-two (22) months from the date the child entered shelter care. Significant to this case, while the niiagistrate also found the child neglected under I.C. § 16-2002(3)(a), the magistrate improperly determined the child to be neglected under I.C. § 16-2002(3)(b) since it is undisputed that a minimum of fifteen (15) months had not elapsed from the time the child entered shelter care to the filing of the petition for termination.5
Turning to I.C. § 16-2002(3)(a), the definition does not expressly incorporate the time standards of I.C. § 16-1629(9) within the definition of neglected itself. The question, *69then, is whether the time standards of I.C. § 16-1629(9) apply to a case brought under I.C. § 16-2002(3)(a) in such a way as to effectively require the Department to demonstrate that reunification efforts were pursued for not less than fifteen (15) out of the last twenty-two (22) months from the date the child entered shelter care. I agree with the lead opinion that, by its terms, it does not. Consistent with underlying federal mandates, Idaho Code § 16-1629(9) implements a back-end time frame within which petitions for termination must be filed.6 As adopted in Idaho, the section creates a rebuttable presumption that if the child has been in shelter care for fifteen (15) out of the last twenty-two (22) months, the Department shall file a petition for termination. It does not, expressly, preclude filing a petition for termination prior to the fifteenth month.7

. In relevant part, Idaho Code § 16-1629(9) provides: "There shall be a rebuttable presumption that if a child is placed in the custody of the department and was also placed in out of the home care for a period not less than fifteen (15) out of the last twenty-two (22) months from the date the child entered shelter care, the department shall initiate a petition for termination of parental rights."

. Aggravated circumstances involve egregious acts or omissions, defined in I.C. § 16 — 1619(6)(d) as:
Reasonable efforts were not required as the parent had subjected the child to aggravated circumstances as determined by the court including, but not limited to: abandonment; torture; chronic abuse; sexual abuse; committed murder; committed voluntary manslaughter of another child; aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; committed a battery that results in serious bodily injury to a child; or the parental rights of the parent to a sibling of the child have been terminated involuntarily and that as a result, a hearing to determine the permanent future plan for this child will be held within thirty (30) days of this determination.

. In Idaho Department of Health and Welfare v. Hays, 137 Idaho 233, 46 P.3d 529 (2002), the Idaho Supreme Court noted that the C.P.A. was amended in 1998 to conform to the requirements *68of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA), Pub.L. No. 105-89. The Court stated:
By adopting ASFA, Congress intended, among other things, to minimize delay in juvenile dependency proceedings, to reduce the length of time that dependent children stay in a temporary placement, and to increase the number of adoptions. Prior federal law had required States to make "reasonable efforts" to prevent removing children from their homes and to facilitate returning children to their homes if removal was necessary. The intent of that policy was to take all reasonable steps to enable the parents to continue to fulfill their childrearing obligation. Although ASFA does not abandon the reasonable efforts criteria, it provides financial incentives for states to implement procedures designed to expedite the permanent placement of children who are in foster care.
Under ASFA, the child's health and safety is the paramount concern. 42 U.S.C. § 671(a)(15). The Act conditions federal funding upon a state's adoption of a system in which, among other things, the status of each child in foster care is reviewed periodically but no less frequently than once every six months, 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(B); a permanency hearing is held no later than twelve months after the child is considered to have entered foster care, 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(C); reasonable efforts to keep the child in, or return the child to, the home are not required in defined aggravated circumstances, 42 U.S.C. § 671(15)(C); and under specific circumstances the state is required to seek termination of the parental rights of the child’s parents "and, concurrently, to identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family for adoption,” 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(E).
Hays, 137 Idaho at 237-38, 46 P.3d at 533-34.

. See also I.J.R. 48 (if in accordance with chapter 20, title 16, Idaho Code and I.C. § 16-1624, a petition for termination may be filed "at any time.”).

. Thus, in this case, we analyze only the determination of neglect under I.C. § 2002(3)(a).

. The genesis of I.C. § 16-1629(9) is ASFA’s 15/22 requirement codified at 42 U.S.C. § 675(5)(E). It provides:
(5) The term "case review system” means a procedure for assuring that—
(E) in the case of a child who has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 15 of the most recent 22 months, or, if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined a child to be an abandoned infant (as defined under State law) or has made a determination that the parent has committed murder of another child of the parent, committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or such a voluntary manslaughter, or committed a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent, the State shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parents (or, if such a petition has been filed by another party, seek to be joined as a party to the petition), and, concurrently, to identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family for an adoption, unless—
(i)at the option of the State, the child is being cared for by a relative;
(ii) a State agency has documented in the case plan (which shall be available for court review) a compelling reason for determining that filing such a petition would not be in the best interests of the child; or
(iii) the State has not provided to the family of the child, consistent with the time period in the State case plan, such services as the State deems necessaiy for the safe return of the child to the child’s home, if reasonable efforts of the type described in section 671(a)(15)(B)(ii) of this title are required to be made with respect to the child.

. However, as noted in the lead opinion, since reasonable reunification efforts must be demonstrated, the brevity between placement of a child in shelter care and filing of a petition for termination, would weigh against termination. Indeed, the purpose of termination is to provide permanency "where the court has found the existence of aggravated circumstances or that reasonable efforts to return the child to his or her home have failed.” I.C. § 16 — 2001(b). Reasonable efforts to return the child home should be consistent with “the philosophy that wherever possible family life should be strengthened and preserved.” I.C. § 16-2001(2).