Dept. of Human Services v. M. F.

"To endanger the child's welfare, the condition or circumstances must create a current threat of serious loss or injury to the child and there must be a reasonable likelihood that the threat will be realized. The focus must be on the child's current conditions and circumstances and not on some point in the past." Dept. of Human Services v. S.A.B.O., 291 Or App 88, 99, 417 P3d 555 (2018).

Father appealed a juvenile court judgment taking jurisdiction over his child. Father assigned error to the court's assertion that it had jurisdiction under ORS 419.100(1)(c). On appeal, Father argued that (1) DHS presented no evidence that he would be unable to protect the child from Mother, and (2) that the juvenile court overemphasized past circumstances that under his care a threat to his child was reasonably likely to be realized. In response, DHS argued that (1) Father did not constantly supervise his child during a month of custody in 2015, (2) that Father's lack of communication with Mother showed a lack of involvement, and (3) that Father did not do his utmost to communicate with DHS and caseworkers. "To endanger the child's welfare, the condition or circumstances must create a current threat of serious loss or injury to the child, and there must be a reasonable likelihood that the threat will be realized. The focus must be on the child's current conditions and circumstances and not on some point in the past." Dept. of Human Services v. S.A.B.O., 291 Or App 88, 99, 417 P3d 555 (2018). The Court held that there was no evidence in the record that Father would fail to attend to his child's needs or that the child would suffer harm currently. Reversed.