Dept. of Human Services v. J. S.

ORS 109.751(b) allows the dependency court to make child custody determinations that are effective until a home state court issues its own order.

Mother appealed two temporary juvenile shelter orders and dependency judgments which concerned two of her children. Mother assigned error to trial court’s decision to enter dependency judgments. On appeal, Mother argued that under ORS 109.751 the trial court lacked jurisdiction, however, the Court of Appeals affirmed. On review, Mother renewed her three arguments. First, that the trial court lacked jurisdiction because the children’s home state was not Oregon. Second, that the judgments entered were not temporary. Finally, that the judgments “were not necessary to protect the children.” ORS 109.751(b) allows the dependency court to make child custody determinations that are effective until a home state court issues its own order. The Court held that a dependency judgment is the type of child custody determination that ORS 109.751 refers to. Moreover, the Court rejected Mother's argument that the judgments were not temporary and held that once a home state court issued its own order, the Oregon judgments would expire, making them temporary. Finally, the Court split its decision on the argument that the dependency judgments were not necessary to protect the children. On one hand, the Court held that Mother’s drug addiction and housing insecurity meant that state custody was necessary. On the other hand, the Court held that the judgment’s provisions which required Mother to take certain steps to reunite with her children were not necessary for the child’s protection, but simply provided for reunification in the future, and therefore they were not authorized by ORS 109.751. The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed in part and reversed in part.