Department of Human Services v. W.M.

Under ORS 419B.476(1), when a parent’s ability to obtain required training for reunification with a child is interrupted by the COVID pandemic, DHS’s “reasonable efforts” to reunify must entitle parents to “efforts that extend long enough to allow them a reasonable opportunity to become minimally adequate parents.”

Parents (Mother and Father) appealed a juvenile court’s judgment which changed the permanency plan to guardianship. Parents assigned error to the juvenile court’s finding that the (DHS) made “reasonable-efforts” to reunify them with their child before changing their dependency status to “guardianship.” DHS contended that prior to the pandemic parents received resources to aid in reunification and they did not “fully engage[].” Under ORS 419B.476(1), when a parent’s ability to obtain required training for reunification with a child is interrupted by the COVID pandemic, DHS’s “reasonable efforts” to reunify must entitle parents to “efforts that extend long enough to allow them a reasonable opportunity to become minimally adequate parents.” The Court held that DHS’s “reasonable efforts” to reunify must extend long enough to allow Parents to obtain the type of training that the pandemic prevented and long enough to allow for “meaningful assessment” of whether that training will produce “minimally adequate” parents. Reversed.