Fall 2006 Newsletter

May 8, 2007

Please put these dates on your calendars now and send in your RSVPs when you get the meeting notices from Melissa Nicoletti.

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Beyond the Collabobabble!!! Sunday, September 17, 2006 from 11:30 – 2:30, 2006 Judicial Conference, Vail Marriot. The Colorado Court Improvement Committee invites all judges and magistrates to attend this pre-conference session. Attendees are encouraged to invite multi-disciplinary teams from their judicial district to join them. Members of a team may include directors of social service departments, social service managers, guardians ad litem, respondent parents’ counsel, city/county attorneys, and service providers. For more information, contact Bill DeLisio at bill.delisio@judicial.state.co.us .

The Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative will hold its annual conference on Back to Basics for Guardians ad Litem on September 18 and 19, 2006 at the Broomfield Auditorium in Broomfield, CO. This training is geared towards GALs but is open to all attorneys in the child welfare arena. Detailed information on CLEs, agenda, etc. can be found at the OCR website www.coloradochildrep.org .

The 11th Annual CASA Training Conference, "Caught in the Crossfire: Confronting Violence in the Home," will be held at the Arvada Center on October 7, 2006. Peter Jaffe, domestic violence and child custody expert of the Center for Research on Violence Against Women and Children will be the featured speaker. For more information, go to www.coloradocasa.org and click on "Events".

The 29th National Children’s Law Conference of the National Association of Counsel for Children will be held October 12-15, 2006 in Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, contact the NACC at www.NACCchildlaw.org.

The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys is co-chairing a national conference entitled "Agency Adoptions and Foster Care: Emerging Legal Issues for Attorneys, Social Workers, Foster Parents and Other Adoption Professionals" on October 19 and 20, 2006 at the Brown Palace Hotel. For more information, contact www.adoptionattorneys.org.

Colorado State Judicial, CBA-CLE, and the Arapahoe County Bar Association are co-sponsoring a conference on "Colorado Divorce – Best Interest of Children" on Friday, November 3, 2006 at the CBA-CLE Classroom, 1900 Grant Street, Suite 300, Denver. For more information, contact www.cobar.org/cle or call CBA-CLE at 303-860-0608, toll free 888-860-2531. DISCOUNT OFFERED FOR JUVENILE LAW SECTION MEMBERS.

The Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative and the University of Colorado Law School will present "Voices of Youth in the Courtroom: Is it Time for a Change?" on November 9th and 10th, 2006 at the Wolf Law Building, CU Law School. For more information contact Sarah Ehrlich at the OCR by phone at 303-860-1517, Ext. 1, or by mail to SarahEhrlich@coloradochildrep.org .

Children’s Immigration Issues will be presented on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at the CBA-CLE Classroom, 1900 Grant Street, third floor, Denver. For more information, contact www.cobar.org/cle or call CBA-CLE at 303-860-0608, toll free 888-860-2531. DISCOUNT OFFERED FOR JUVENILE LAW SECTION MEMBERS.

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Have you checked out the updated website yet? We are updating the site to include previous newsletters, scheduled events, contact information, and important links. Go the the CBA website at www.cobar.org and click on "About the CBA", then scroll down and click on "Sections/Committees", then scroll down and click on "Sections, to get to the "Juvenile Law Section." Take a look - and, if you think something needs to be there that you don’t find, let us know!

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Be sure to read to latest Juvenile Law article in the September 2006 Colorado Lawyer, titled "Dependency and Neglect Law: New Legislation and Case Law", written by Kathryn Henshall Smith. Kathryn, a senior attorney in the Human Services Legal Section of the Denver City Attorney’s Office, brings us up to date on the legislative changes and court cases that have focused on the rights of parents and services for families so that we may ensure the best representation of children and families in our work.

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No. 05SC808. People ex rel. K.D.

http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?OpinionID=5709

Termination of parental rights –parental incarceration –treatment plans.

In this termination of parental rights case, the Colorado Supreme Court considers whether the trial court improperly relied upon a criminal conviction and resulting incarceration to work a forfeiture of parental rights under section 19-3-604(1) (c) , C.R.S. (2005).

The Court observes that parental incarceration alone, is insufficient to work a forfeiture of parental rights under section 19-3-604 (1) (c) . However, the Court notes that Colorado’s Children’s Code (the "Code"), sections 19-1-101 to 19-6-106, C.R.S. (2005), expressly permits, and in some cases requires, a trial court to consider parental incarceration in terminating the parent-child legal relationship under section 19-3-604(1) (c) . Specifically, section 19-3-604(1) (c) of the Code requires a trial court to consider parental incarceration under two circumstances: (1) if the parent is confined and not eligible for parole for at least six years after the date was adjudicated dependent or neglected; and (2) if the parent is confined and not eligible for parole for at least thirty-six months after the date a child, who is under the age of six when the petition is filed, is adjudicated dependent or neglected. § 19-3-604(2), C.R.S. (2005).

The Court concludes, however, that a trial court is not precluded from considering periods of incarceration of less than thirty-six months. Because the primary and controlling issue in termination proceedings is the determination of what will best serve the interests and welfare of the child, a trial court may consider even a relatively short period of parental incarceration as a factor affecting parental fitness and the needs of a child who has been adjudicated dependent or neglected.

In re C.T.S., 2006 WL 1493994 (Colo. Ct. App.)

TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS, FAILURE TO TREAT

Trial court correctly terminated parental rights based on parents’ failure to comply with the comprehensive treatment plan; while the department must develop a treatment plan and provide information on support services, it need not ensure parent’s compliance with rehabilitation.

In re D.G., 2006 WL 1348470 (Colo. Ct. App.)

DEPENDENCY, INCARCERATION

Trial court incorrectly terminated parental rights since compliance with treatment plan was nearly impossible due to prohibition of face-to-face visits between incarcerated mother and children, which was based on determination that it was more important for children to strengthen ties to foster parents; department should focus on rehabilitation and reunification of the family, not strengthening the bonds between children and their foster parents.

No. 05CA2697. People in the Interest of A.J., Concerning C.J.

Colo. Ct. App. August 10, 2006

http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?OpinionID=5732

LATE-FILED NOTICE OF APPEAL IN DEPENDENCY AND NEGLECT CASE-C.A.R. 3.4(b)(3) – C.A.R. 2 – C.A.R. 26(b)

The Court of Appeals addresses mother’s motion to accept her late-filed notice of appeal and determines that although C.A.R. 3.4(b)(3) prohibits extending the deadline for filing a notice of appeal in dependency and neglect cases based on a showing of excusable neglect, it does not preclude the court from exercising its discretion under C.A.R. 2 and C.A.R. 26(b) to retain jurisdiction over a late-filed appeal for good cause. Under very limited circumstances, the court may accept jurisdiction over a late-filed appeal in a dependency and neglect case where the untimely filing was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel amounting to good cause. The court concludes that under the circumstances of this case, there is good cause for extending or suspending the filing deadline.

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Winter Newsletter

The winter newsletter will go out by December 21, 2006. The deadline for submitting cases, articles and events is December 1, 2006. Please send any submission requests to me at sthibault@co.clear-creek.co.us , or call me at (303) 679-2432 (phone) or by fax at (303) 679-2444.

Sue Thibault