41-3-301. Emergency protective service.

Parental advocate present when protective services discussed

Child Custody Discussion by State :: View topic - Emergency Custody

Drug treatment for pregnant woman in child protective cases

Emergency Preparedness in Dependency Courts

http://adoption.about.com/cs/fosteringbystate/p/montana.htm

Fostering in the State of Montana

Social Services Investigations: The Removal of Children From The Home

Reasonable efforts include but are not limited to voluntary protective services agreements,

development of individual written case plans specifying state efforts to reunify families,

placement in the least disruptive setting possible, provision of services pursuant to a case

plan, and periodic review of each case to ensure timely progress toward reunification or

permanent placement. Mont. Code Ann. § 41-3-423(1)

(1) It is the policy of the state of Montana to support and preserve the family as the

single most powerful influence for ensuring the healthy social development and mental

and physical well-being of Montana's children.

(2) The following principles must guide the actions of state government, state

agencies, and agents of the state that serve children and families:

(a) Family support and preservation must be guiding philosophies when the state,

state agencies, or agents of the state plan or implement services for children or families.

The state shall promote the establishment of a range of services to children and families,

including the following components: (i) supporting families toward healthy development

by providing a community network that offers a range of family support services,

activities, and programs designed to promote family well-being, with services that include

prenatal care, parenting education, parent aides, and visiting nurses; early childhood

screening and developmental services; child care; and family recreation; (ii) assisting

vulnerable families before crises emerge by providing specialized services to strengthen

and preserve families experiencing problems before they become acute and by providing

early intervention and family support services, such as respite care, health and mental

health services, and home- based rehabilitation services linked to services in subsection

(2)(a)(i); (iii) protecting and caring for children in crisis by providing intensive services to

protect children who have suffered or are at risk of suffering serious harm from child

abuse and neglect, by providing care for children at risk of out-of-home placement for

emotional disturbances or behavior problems, and by providing family support services to

ensure that reasonable efforts are made to safely maintain children in their own homes or

to provide temporary or permanent care for children who are removed from their

families. These services include family-based services to avoid removal from the home

whenever possible and to provide out-of-home care, reunification services, adoption

services, and long-term substitute care.

(b) To maximize resources and establish a range of services driven by the needs

of families rather than by a predetermined array of categorical services, the state, state

agencies, and agents of the state shall work toward a system of comprehensive and

coordinated services to children and families through joint agency planning, joint

financing, joint service delivery, common intake and assessment, and other

arrangements that promote more effective support for families.

(c) Needed services to children and families should be provided as close as

possible to the home community. The state, state agencies, and agents of the state shall

encourage community planning and collaboration. State agencies shall cooperate to

support collaborative programs.

(d) The state encourages all sectors of society to participate in building the

community capacity to meet the needs of children and families. Mont. Code Ann. § 41-7-

102

A court may make a finding that the department need not make reasonable efforts to provide

preservation or reunification services if the court finds that the parent has:

(a) subjected a child to aggravated circumstances, including but not limited to

abandonment, torture, chronic abuse, or sexual abuse or chronic, severe neglect of a child;

(b) committed, aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited deliberate or mitigated

deliberate homicide of a child;

(c) committed aggravated assault against a child;

(d) committed neglect of a child that resulted in serious bodily injury or death; or

(e) had parental rights to the child’s sibling or other child of the parents involuntarily

terminated and the circumstances related to the termination of parental rights are relevant

to the parent’s ability to adequately care for the child at issue. Mont. Code Ann. § 41-3-

423(2)

The State must show by clear and convincing evidence that the statutory criteria for

termination of parental rights has been met before the court can order the termination.

Matter of S.B., 724 P.2d 168 (Mont. 1986).

Reasonable efforts were made to prevent the need for removal of child from father’s care

where anger management classes and chemical dependency treatment programs were

availa ble to father while he was incarcerated. In re A.S., 59 P.3d 382 (Mont. 2002).

Parental rights were terminated where mother lacked the parenting skills as well as the mental

and emotional maturity to parent normal children. Treatment plan consisted of mother

following her probation guidelines, obtaining couple and family counseling and attending

supervised visitation with the children. The record is replete with factual evidence which

indicates that mother failed to comply with or complete these requirements. In fact, it is

undisputed that less than three months after the plan's implementation, mother was

arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine in her apartment with child present.

Mother failed to complete the approved treatment plan and was found unlikely to make

significant progress within a reasonable time to meet the children’s needs. In re Custody of

A.L.R., 54 P.3d 17 (Mont. 2002).

Evidence established mother's failure to comply with court-approved treatment plan, as

element for terminating her parental rights to children adjudicated as youths in need of

care; while mother did complete chemical dependency evaluation, she failed to

consistently submit to random drug testing, she failed to submit verification of

attendance at substance abuse recovery group meetings, she did not attend individual

counseling or keep psychiatrist appointments and take prescribed medication, and she

failed to maintain healthy relationship with children by maintaining frequent and

consistent contact. The court conc luded that despite the agency's reasonable efforts to

reunite the family, the evidence demonstrated that the continuation of the parent-child

legal relationship would likely result in continued abuse and neglect. The court

determined that the interests of the children, considering their physical, mental, and

emotional needs, would be best served by terminating mother's parental rights. 2003 WL

22976116 (Mont.) (UNPUBLISHED)

(i) Parental rights were te rminated where mother failed to secure a stable financial status

sufficient to meet her children’s needs, to undergo psychological evaluation in order to

assess her mental health and parenting abilities, to maintain regular contact with her

children, to submit to urinalysis testing, and to establish a healthy and safe living

environment for her children. 2000 WL 560865 (Mont.) (UNPUBLISHED)

(ii) The court shall enter a finding that continuation of the parent-child legal relationship

approved by the Distric t Court which covered a period of approximately four and

one-half months. The first treatment plan listed the following goals: (1) to assist

mother in stabilizing her environment; (2) to assist mother in improving her

relationship with child; and (3) to provide the DPHHS with the necessary

information for determining whether the child will be returned home. The second

treatment plan listed the following goals: (1) demonstrate competence in all areas

of parenting; (2) establish a stable financial status while incarcerated so that

child's basic needs can be met; and (3) assess whether mother has made

drug/alcohol treatment program, attend Aftercare, AA meetings and abstain

from alcohol and drugs. The plan required her to complete a sex offender evaluation,

establish a stable home environment for the child, complete parenting classes, and

obtain a valid driver’s license. The plan also required the mother not to let people

move in and out of the home, to have weekly contacts with a social worker, to

maintain regular supervised visits with child and to remain law abiding. Matter of

N.R.M., 862 P.2d 1171 (Mont. 1993).

(ii) Reasonable efforts were made where parents were required to obtain psychological

counseling, including a sex offender evaluation and to maintain regular supervised

visitation with their child. Matter of Custody and Parental Right of F.M.,Jr., 811 P.2d

mother allegedly relied on representations made and known by state to be inadequate in

helping her make changes necessary to improve her parenting skills; evidence showed