Dept. of Hum. Servs v. J. H.

ORS 419B.498(1)(a) requires DHS to file a petition to terminate parental rights and proceed with adoption when a child or ward has been in substitute care under the responsibility of the department for 15 months of the most recent 22 months unless some exception applies.

Parents challenged a juvenile court changing the permanency plan for their daughter from reunification to adoption. Parents contended the juvenile court erred by rejecting their argument that exceptions exist to prevent a change in the plan to adoption. ORS 419B.498(1)(a) requires DHS to file a petition to terminate parental rights and proceed with adoption when a child or ward has been in substitute care under the responsibility of the department for 15 months of the most recent 22 months unless some exception applies. It is the parents’ burden to establish an exception to termination and adoption. ORS 419B.498(2)(a) provides an exception for if a child is being cared for by a relative and that placement is intended to be permanent. The child is living with her great-grandmother. The Court reasoned that the great-grandmother expressed an intention to care for the child permanently on the record, which constitutes an exception to a change to adoption. Judgment changing permanency plan to adoption reversed and remanded; otherwise affirmed.