Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

At issue in this case was the termination of Sherman B.'s parental rights to his son Kadin M. The Office of Children's Services (OCS) took Kadin into custody shortly after his birth because he and his mother, Amy M., both tested positive for cocaine, and because of concerns about both parents' ability to care for the child. OCS had already been involved with Sherman for several years because of concerns with his other three children. The superior court terminated both Sherman's and Amy's parental rights to Kadin. Sherman appealed, contesting the court's findings that: (1) he abandoned Kadin; (2) that he failed to remedy the conduct that caused Kadin to be a child in need of aid; (3) that OCS made reasonable efforts to reunify the family; and (4) that termination of his parental rights is in Kadin's best interests. Finding no abuse of discretion, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Sherman B. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

Kyle S. appealed a superior court decision that adjudicated his teenage daughter Jane a child in need of aid. Jane was taken into State custody when she was 15 years old, after she reported being physically abused by her stepmother. The superior court based its decision on Jane's propensity to run away; it made no findings about either Kyle or his wife. At the time of the adjudication hearing, Jane had several criminal charges pending. Kyle challenged the trial court's adjudication decision, arguing that the statutory subsection about runaways was unconstitutional as applied to him and that the court incorrectly concluded that the State made active efforts to prevent the family's breakup. Upon careful consideration, the Supreme Court concluded Kyle waived his constitutional argument by not raising it earlier and because the superior court's active-efforts decision was supported by the record. View "Kyle S. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

F.V.O., respondent in a dependency action, appealed a trial court's orders after a dispositional review hearing in a dependency case. A majority of the Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the orders; the Supreme Court reversed and remanded. Both arguments presented by the motherÐ-regarding the finding by the trial court as to the efforts made by DHR to reunite the mother and the children and the announcement of a new permanency plan--failed to adjudicate any rights of the mother from which an appeal would lie. Accordingly, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Civil Appeals' judgment and remanded the case for that court to dismiss the mother's appeal and to remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings. View "F.V.O. v. Coffee County Department of Human Resources" on Justia Law

Petitioner Catherine Harwood appealed a Human Services Board decision that applied the doctrine of collateral estoppel to uphold the substantiation of her abuse of a vulnerable adult, and thereby placed her name on the adult abuse registry. Petitioner argued that she should not have been precluded from appealing the abuse substantiation because she was never given a full and fair opportunity to challenge the allegations. Petitioner is the mother of M.T., a thirty-five-year-old woman who had significant developmental disabilities and was unable to care for herself. Upon review of the Board's decision, the Supreme Court agreed with petitioner that she did not receive an opportunity to challenge the allegations. The Court reversed the Board's decision and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "In re Harwood" on Justia Law

Chloe O. had a history of substance abuse and mental health issues. OCS took Chloe's fifteen-month-old daughter, Ashanti, into emergency custody because of Chloe's drug abuse, suicide attempts, assaultive behaviors, and affinity for unsafe people and situations. OCS made many unsuccessful attempts to assist Chloe in obtaining treatment for her substance abuse issues and, eventually, for her mental health issues. Following a trial, Chloe's parental rights to Ashanti were terminated. Chloe appealed the trial court's termination order on several grounds, one being that OCS failed to try to reunify Chloe's family. Before briefing was completed the parties agreed that the case should be remanded to allow the trial court to reconsider the active efforts question under the correct evidentiary standard. The trial court found, by clear and convincing evidence, that OCS had made active efforts to reunify Chloe's family. Chloe appealed the trial court's finding and ultimately, the court's decision to terminate her parental rights. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed in all respects. View "Chloe O. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

Claudio P. was incarcerated before his daughter Iris was born and was likely to remain incarcerated for a significant portion of Iris's childhood. Iris was taken into State custody in June 2010 due to her mother's substance abuse and unsafe conditions in her home. Claudio's mother requested that Iris be placed with her, but she was unable to maintain stable housing. Claudio provided the name of his father, who lived in South Dakota, as another placement option. OCS requested home studies under the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children for each of Claudio's parents. Both home studies came back with positive recommendations shortly before the termination trial. Following the trial, the trial court terminated Claudio's parental rights to Iris and noted that Iris's permanent placement would be determined at a subsequent hearing. Claudio argued that the trial court erred by terminating his rights because OCS should have taken more action to place Iris with one of his parents. After its review, the Supreme Court concluded that OCS's investigation of Claudio's placement request was reasonable and timely, and that each of the trial court's challenged findings was supported by substantial evidence. View "Claudio P. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

Father appealed a trial court’s conclusion that his son D.D. was a child in need of care or supervision (CHINS) because he was without proper medical care necessary for his well being. Father argued on appeal that the record did not support the trial court’s factual findings, which in turn did not support the trial court’s legal conclusion. The State challenged the timeliness of father’s appeal and, on the merits, argued that the trial court’s findings and conclusions were adequately supported. Upon careful review of the trial court's conclusion, the Supreme Court concluded father’s appeal was untimely, but reached the merits in this instance and affirmed the trial court’s substantive determination. View "In re D.D." on Justia Law

Former U.S. Forest Service employee King had long-term relationships with two women, both of whom claimed federal survivor benefits upon his death. Kathryn believed she had married King in a civil ceremony in 2002. Diana, who had been legally married to and divorced from King twice, but had continued to live with him until 2002, maintained that she was the common law wife of King at the time he married Kathryn. Before his death, Diana had initiated proceedings in Montana to dissolve their common law marriage. The women subsequently entered settlement agreements and engaged in state court litigation. Kathryn received benefits from May 27, 2004 until February 2007. Diana subsequently received the survivor benefits. Kathryn transferred to Diana the funds that she received ($41,939.13), as she believed was required by a Montana court decree. Kathryn challenged the OPM’s effort to recover the improper payments, having transferred the money to Diana, but the government affirmed its decision and determined that collection of the $41,939.13 would not cause Kathryn financial hardship. The Merit Systems Protection Board affirmed, holding that Kathryn did not meet the definition of “widow” under the Civil Service Retirement Act, 5 U.S.C. 8341(A)(1), and had not proved that she was entitled to waiver for the overpayment. The Federal Circuit reversed. The Board failed to credit substantial evidence demonstrating that Kathryn detrimentally relied on the overpayment of survivor annuity funds. View "King v. Office of Pers. Mgmt." on Justia Law

Four children tested positive at birth for cocaine. After the fourth child was born, the Office of Children's Services (OCS) took custody of the child and placed him with his maternal grandmother. Based on the mother's history of untreated substance abuse, OCS filed a petition for termination of the her parental rights months after the child was born. After trial, the superior court concluded that termination was in the best interests of the child. The mother appealed, arguing that she was not given a reasonable time to remedy her substance abuse issues, that OCS did not exercise reasonable efforts over the short period prior to termination, and that termination eight months after birth was not in her child's best interests. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the superior court because it properly considered the mother's history with OCS, her conduct after the child's birth, and the best interests of the child. View "Amy M. v. Alaska" on Justia Law

M.E.V. was a minor child whose biological mother lived in Mississippi, and whose biological father lived in Texas. The youth court removed M.E.V. from her mother’s custody. After several periodic reviews, the youth court judge issued a review order giving legal and physical custody of the child to her biological father in Texas on a trial basis. The mother wanted to appeal that review order. Because the review order was not a final judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. View "In the Interest of M.E.V." on Justia Law