Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
Date FiledJuly 15, 2026
DocketA189218
JudgeOrtega
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
No. 662 July 15, 2026 439
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE
STATE OF OREGON
In the Matter of S. C. W.,
a Child.
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES,
Petitioner-Respondent,
and
S. C. W.,
Respondent,
v.
C. A. W.,
Appellant.
Columbia County Circuit
24JU02108; A189218 (Control), A189458
In the Matter of S. C. W.,
a Child.
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES,
Petitioner-Respondent,
and
S. C. W.,
Respondent,
v.
T. W.,
Appellant.
Columbia County Circuit
24JU02108; A189218, A189458
Denise E. Keppinger, Judge.
Submitted April 22, 2026.
Shannon Storey, Chief Defender, Juvenile Appellate
Section and Elena C. Stross, Deputy Public Defender, Oregon
Public Defense Commission, filed the briefs for appellant
C. A. W.
George W. Kelly filed the brief for appellant T. W.
440 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
Dan Rayfield, Attorney General, Paul L. Smith, Solicitor
General, and Stacy M. Chaffin, Assistant Attorney General,
filed the brief for respondent Department of Human Services.
G. Aron Perez-Selsky filed the brief for respondent child.
Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, Joyce, Judge, and
Hellman, Judge.
ORTEGA, P. J.
Affirmed.
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 441
ORTEGA, P. J.
In this juvenile dependency case, mother and father
appeal a judgment changing the permanency plan from reuni-
fication to guardianship for their daughter, S, who was 13
years old at the time of the permanency hearing. In two assign-
ments of error, mother argues that the Oregon Department
of Human Services (ODHS) did not meet its burden to prove
that its efforts to reunify S were reasonable and, therefore,
that the juvenile court erred in changing S’s permanency plan
away from reunification. In father’s sole assignment of error,
he argues that the juvenile court erred in changing S’s plan to
guardianship because, in his view, the juvenile court’s reasons
for doing so—S’s particular circumstances and preferences—
are not set out in, or fairly implied from, the jurisdictional
judgment and are therefore impermissible.
We conclude that the record supports the juvenile
court’s determination that ODHS made reasonable efforts
to reunify S with mother. We further conclude that the juve-
nile court did not err in changing S’s permanency plan after
considering her particular circumstances and preferences.
We therefore affirm.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We decline father’s request to review de novo because
he does not explain why this is an exceptional case warrant-
ing such review. See ORAP 5.40(8) (providing that where we
have “discretion to try the cause anew on the record and the
appellant seeks to have the court exercise that discretion,
the appellant shall concisely state the reasons why the court
should do so,” and setting forth nonexclusive considerations
for doing so). We therefore “review the juvenile court’s legal
conclusions for errors of law, and we view the evidence in the
light most favorable to the court’s disposition to determine
if it supports the court’s legal conclusions.” Dept. of Human
Services v. S. J. M., 364 Or 37, 40, 430 P3d 1021 (2018). We
state the facts relevant to our analysis of parents’ assign-
ments of error in accordance with that standard.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
An evaluation of the basis for the juvenile court’s
decision requires us to navigate through a challenging
442 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
factual record, which we attempt to summarize to the extent
necessary to understand our conclusions in this case.
Parents share six children. B and K are adults;
H, S, L, and N were found to be within the juvenile court’s
jurisdiction in April 2024, though this appeal involves only
S. However, the family has a history of ODHS intervention
dating back to 2007. In April 2015 (before L and N were
born), ODHS placed B, K, H, and S in nonrelative foster care
due to concerns regarding neglect related to parents’ sub-
stance abuse. S was returned to parents in July 2016.
Leading up to this case, ODHS implemented a pro-
tection plan for the family in March 2022 to address con-
cerns that parents were using and exposing the children to
methamphetamine, as well as mother’s “unpredictable and
erratic behavior” and parents’ failure to maintain the chil-
dren in school. S had withdrawn from elementary school in
October 2021 and had not returned. In July 2023, S moved
in with her adult sister, K, due to the deteriorating relation-
ship between S and mother, and S briefly returned to school
that fall but did not complete even a month before again
withdrawing.
In February 2024, mother stabbed father’s leg with
a paring knife during a domestic dispute in N’s presence,
leading to mother’s arrest and prosecution for assault.
ODHS removed H, L, and N from parents’ care in March
2024 and placed them with the same nonrelative resource
parents who had cared for B, K, H, and S when they were
removed in 2015.
At the time, S was still living with K, who agreed
to complete paperwork to become S’s guardian and enroll S
in school. However, by April 2024, ODHS removed S from
that placement, since K had not followed through and had
acknowledged that she could not handle the responsibility of
ensuring that S attended school. S joined her siblings in the
foster care placement, which now qualified as a “fictive kin”
or “kith” placement. See OAR 413-070-0000(31) (defining
“fictive kin” synonymously with “kith” as “an individual who
is not related to the child or young adult by blood, adoption
or marriage but has an emotionally significant relationship
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 443
with the child or young adult that has the characteristics of
a family relationship”).
That same month, parents admitted ODHS’s alle-
gations that:
• Mother “has been indicted and has pending charges for
assaultive criminal behavior involving [d]omestic vio-
lence involving father, which interferes with her ability
to safely parent the children currently”;
• “The child(ren) have been exposed to domestic violence
between the parents, and [mother] needs the assistance
of the agency and outside services to help her develop
safe and stable domestic relationships that protect the
children from exposure [to] domestic violence”;
• Mother “needs the assistance of ODHS to help her
develop the parenting skills necessary to better provide
for the educational needs of the children”;
• Mother’s “residential instability interferes with her
ability to safely parent the child”;
• Father “has failed to provide for the educational needs
of the children”; and
• Father’s “substance abuse interferes with his ability to
safely parent the children.”
The juvenile court asserted jurisdiction on those bases.
In September 2024, mother pleaded guilty to fourth-
degree assault constituting domestic violence and recklessly
endangering another person, and she entered a deferred
sentencing agreement on the assault charge. The terms of
that agreement and of her 18-month probation required her
to have no contact with father and to engage in substance
abuse treatment.
By November 2024, ODHS had referred mother to
a parent mentor, residential substance abuse treatment,
“hands-on parenting” training through Options, and domes-
tic violence services. ODHS also facilitated weekly visits
with S and her siblings and thrice weekly video calls. The
reports on mother’s progress in the residential treatment
program were very positive.
444 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
After mother had successfully completed residen-
tial treatment, H was returned to her care for a trial reuni-
fication and, in March 2025, the two moved into an apart-
ment in Portland. An Options worker made weekly visits to
mother’s home through April 2025 to work on “organization,
grocery shopping, and providing structure.”
After mother completed substance abuse treatment,
family visits were briefly expanded. However, S reported to
the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) that during
visits, the role of parenting her younger siblings fell on her,
and that mother “doesn’t do anything with them and they
don’t have any rules.” Further, ODHS learned that during
an overnight visit with the children in April 2025, father
was also present overnight and gave marijuana to H and S.
When ODHS discussed the incident with S, she was “con-
flicted to share information” but expressed that “she wishes
to not return to [mother’s] care.” The CASA also noted that
mother had appeared “high as a kite” on at least one recent
video call with the children and thereafter declined to turn
on her camera for calls.
On April 16, 2025, the attorney representing all
four children moved to withdraw as counsel for S, citing a
conflict of interest and S’s consent to the withdrawal, and he
moved to appoint new counsel for S. According to the CASA,
S sought a new attorney “to work with her on a different
reunification plan from her siblings.” Around that same
time, H was again removed from mother’s care due to con-
cerns that she was abusing marijuana and engaging in a
sexual relationship with an older man with a criminal his-
tory, whom mother had first invited into the home.
A review hearing set for April 2025 was reset to
June and, at the hearing, the hour allotted was scarcely
enough time for the testimony of the only witness for ODHS,
supervisor James. She testified that mother had been
engaging in services but that, as to domestic violence ser-
vices, there were some concerns about “how much internal
change” mother had made and about “her understanding of
the concerns” that led to the children’s removal. Additionally,
parents had been in contact despite the no-contact order
imposed as part of mother’s criminal case; the children had
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 445
disclosed that father had been present during their weekend
visits with mother. Accordingly, ODHS did not believe that
mother had made sufficient progress to justify returning the
children to her care and recommended that she continue
with domestic violence services and show “cognitive changes
and behavioral changes through that treatment to include
following the conditions of her probation” as to no contact
with father. James acknowledged that “[m]ultiple treatment
providers have expressed concern around mother’s cognitive
functioning” and that ODHS was offering mother a psycho-
logical evaluation to “help [the agency] determine if there
were other ways to approach [mother]—or other services
we can put in place for [mother] to help her make sufficient
changes to maintain safety for the children.” However,
James believed that a psychological evaluation was “not nec-
essary as a reasonable effort.”
The CASA describes S as an “incredibly mature,
self-composed, courageous” person who “knows herself.”
S had told the CASA in March 2025 that she did not want
to return to mother’s care because her mom “will never
change.” Despite missing grades three through five and half
of sixth grade, S had a 2.8 GPA in seventh grade and was
engaging in tutoring at her resource family’s expense. Since
residing with them, S had received glasses, medical, dental,
and orthodontic care, and was attending therapy.
James testified that S was “definitely having some
struggles with the family dynamics, what her parents
and her sister [H] are still doing,” and that ODHS offered
S weekly visits with mother, but S “often chooses to not
attend those” because “she doesn’t believe her parents will
be able to meet her needs.” James described S as “one of the
more vocal of the children” and noted that S had told her
resource parents “that she would like to stay with them and
not be returned” to her parents. She had “adjusted very well
into her placement,” had a “strong bond” with her resource
parents, and was “thriving on structure and routine.”
The court observed that docket constraints required
the June hearing to be continued until September 30 and
inquired whether anyone objected to maintaining the plan
of reunification until then. S’s counsel responded that he
446 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
had no objection that day, but that S would be requesting a
change of plan at the next hearing. He asserted that S had
“made huge improvements” in school, thanks to her “won-
derful” resource home, and concurred with ODHS’s assess-
ment that a psychological evaluation for mother would be
“helpful” but was not rationally related to the jurisdictional
bases and should not delay permanency for S.
Meanwhile, in August 2025, mother successfully
completed domestic violence services. Her counselor identi-
fied her as a “secondary aggressor” and recommended that
she continue with individual counseling and participate in
parenting classes, given that she has “demonstrated ongo-
ing challenges in being mindful of her children’s needs, par-
ticularly in setting effective boundaries[.]”
That same month, ODHS attempted to move S and
L from their kith placement, but both S and her resource
parents did not want S to move.1 In a letter to the juvenile
court dated September 12, 2025, James stated that ODHS
was “not willing to use the tools necessary to force [S] to
leave the resource home,” but “does not support this place-
ment and believes [S] should join [L]” in a new placement.
James further stated that ODHS had “not changed its posi-
tion on moving [S]” but was “just unable to effectuate that
move due to the resistance of the resource parent.”
S’s therapist wrote a letter to the juvenile court 10
days later to provide “a professional statement regarding
[S’s] mental health and information she has consented to
be shared relative to her foster placement.” The therapist
explained that, for five months, S had been receiving ser-
vices to address depression and anxiety symptoms, includ-
ing suicidal ideation, low self-esteem, hopelessness, discom-
fort at school, and difficulty focusing; that S reported that
her symptoms had reduced and felt more manageable; that
the therapist received a crisis call to support S on the day
1
The resource parents, who were parenting two children of their own, both
under six years old, were “burned out” and had previously requested that ODHS
move both H and N due to difficult behavior. H had been temporarily reunited
with mother before being again removed and placed in another non-relative fos-
ter home, and N had been moved to a different non-relative foster home in June
2025. The resource parents had also requested L to be moved before the begin-
ning of the school year.
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 447
she was anticipating removal from her current placement in
which S reported “feeling numb, very sad, and panicked”;
that S shared that she felt very close with her current
resource family, and she described their home as a “place to
grow”; that S consistently expressed that she valued staying
connected with her siblings but did not necessarily wish to
be placed with them; and that S expressed feeling like “no
one was listening to her” and that what she wanted “was
being treated like it isn’t important.”
The day before the September hearing, ODHS
moved for a continuance because the family report was
incomplete. The juvenile court continued the hearing to give
the parties time to review the report. The court heard evi-
dence and argument on two additional days in October.
The family’s caseworker, Gutierrez, testified that
over the life of the case, the agency had offered mother
“recovery support services, DV [domestic violence] survi-
vor resources, mental health resources,” and had “[f]acili-
tated family decision meetings and had been communi-
cating regularly to support resources that could support”
mother. Gutierrez acknowledged that ODHS had not yet fol-
lowed up on the recommendations from mother’s DV coun-
selor or referred mother for a psychological evaluation. In
Gutierrez’s opinion, mother had “demonstrated minimal
change in her perceptions of what happened leading to the
children’s removal” and “struggles between separating her-
self from her partner who currently has a no contact order,
and becoming self-sufficient on her own for her children.”
However, Gutierrez believed that “continued monitoring of
[mother’s] drug use, * * * more domestic violence services,
groups, * * * consistent mental health counseling, [and]
parent-related resources” for mother would make it likely
that the children could return home in a reasonable period
of time.
Regarding S, Gutierrez testified that mother has
ongoing weekly visits scheduled with S and that a family
time coordinator regularly communicates with S’s resource
parent and S about attending, but “[t]hey’re declining vis-
its.” ODHS had not referred mother and S to family counsel-
ing “based on conversations with [S] about her readiness to
448 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
engage,” though they had not directly asked S if she would
participate in some type of family counseling. S has devel-
oped a strong bond with her resource family and expressed
that she feels supported, connected, and understood in the
home and her community, and that she views her placement
as a positive environment where she is able to grow, main-
tain friendships, and develop her independence.
ODHS contended that it had made reasonable
efforts to reunify the family but that neither parent had
made sufficient progress. The agency asserted that father
“has not made measurable progress toward addressing his
substance use or domestic violence concerns and has limited
engagement with ODHS or services.” Nonetheless, ODHS
requested that the current plan of reunification remain
in place, explaining that while mother “has demonstrated
meaningful engagement in services * * * she continues to
struggle with consistency and maintaining safe boundar-
ies” and that “additional time and services are needed” to
achieve reunification. In ODHS’s view, “the agency would
like to get the siblings together at all costs,” and had been
attempting to do so but only recently had identified a possi-
ble placement for all four children.
Mother, father, H, L, and N all agreed that the plan
should remain reunification.
However, S’s counsel reiterated that “while she
loves her parents, she is * * * ready to start the process of
doing a guardianship with her current caretakers.” ODHS
responded that it did not support a plan of guardianship
with S’s current resource parents and questioned whether
the court had authority to order ODHS to move forward
with those resource parents as guardians or to compel the
agency to file a motion to that end. S remonstrated that
the juvenile court has discretion under ORS 419B.349 “to
order that [S] be maintained at her current caretaker [kith]
home” and to change S’s plan upon finding that ODHS had
made reasonable efforts to reunify parents with S. S argued
that the specifics of finalizing a guardianship were not yet
before the court. ODHS conceded the latter point and, when
the court sought its position on an order to maintain S in
her current placement, ODHS stipulated that it would not
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 449
remove S from her resource family “without coming to the
Court or agreement of all parties.”
The juvenile court determined that ODHS had
made reasonable efforts to reunify the family and that nei-
ther parent had made sufficient progress. As to H, L, and
N, the court maintained the plan of reunification “based on
all the parties’ uncontested desire to keep this moving for-
ward” and “the identified potential services for mom that
could help her to become a safe placement within a reason-
able period of time.”
For S, the juvenile court ordered a change of plan
to guardianship. It found that S had been in substitute care
for more than 531 days, that she had not lived with parents
for “a significant amount of time” prior to removal, that she
is bonded to her resource parents, and that she has consis-
tently expressed her own desire for permanency in her cur-
rent placement, where she is thriving. The court found that
“ODHS did not really clearly articulate their basis to con-
tinue reunification specifically to [S],” given that she has not
recently moved placements like her siblings and given that
ODHS had “no really identifiable plan to place the siblings
together.” The court also determined that adoption was not
appropriate because S has “demonstrated * * * strong bonds
with her siblings” and a bond with her parents, albeit a
“strained” one, such that “guardianship would allow for that
ongoing relationship to * * * move forward.”
Parents timely appealed the permanency judgment
changing S’s plan to guardianship.
ANALYSIS
A juvenile court has authority to change a child’s
permanency plan away from reunification upon determin-
ing that ODHS has “made reasonable efforts * * * to make
it possible for the ward to safely return home” and that the
parent has not “made sufficient progress to make it pos-
sible for the ward to safely return home.” ORS 419B.476
(2)(a). “In making its determination, the court shall consider
the ward’s health and safety the paramount concerns.” Id.
“Efforts are reasonable when the agency has taken appro-
priate steps under the circumstances to give parents a full
450 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
and fair opportunity to remediate the bases for jurisdiction
to become at least minimally adequate parents (and, for
purposes of a permanency hearing, to show that they have
made sufficient progress to make it possible for the child
to safely return to their care).” Dept. of Human Services v.
C. H., 373 Or 26, 50, 559 P3d 395 (2024). “[A]ssessing the
reasonableness of [O]DHS’s efforts to assist parents in that
endeavor is most fairly accomplished by inquiring into
[O]DHS’s efforts over the course of the agency’s involvement
with the family.” Id. at 51.
“[B]oth [ODHS’s] efforts and a parent’s progress are
evaluated by reference to the facts that formed the bases for
juvenile court jurisdiction.” Dept. of Human Services v. N. T.,
247 Or App 706, 715, 271 P3d 143 (2012). That means that
the court may rely only on facts that are “explicitly stated or
fairly implied by the jurisdictional judgment” in making its
determinations regarding ODHS’s reunification efforts and
the parent’s progress. Id. at 715-16. “Facts are not ‘fairly
implied’ by a jurisdictional judgment, and thus are ‘extrin-
sic’ to the jurisdictional judgment, if a reasonable parent
would not have known from the jurisdictional judgment
that [they] needed to address the condition or circumstance
exemplified by those facts.” Dept. of Human Services v. T. L.,
287 Or App 753, 763, 403 P3d 488 (2017).
In mother’s first assignment of error, she argues
that the juvenile court erred in determining that ODHS’s
efforts to reunify mother with S qualified as reasonable.
Mother contends that ODHS knew by March 2025 that
mother “suffered from some cognitive difficulties” but did
not adjust its efforts by following through with the psycho-
logical evaluation or the DV counselor’s recommendations.
Mother further contends that ODHS failed to offer mother
assistance to develop skills to address S’s particular edu-
cational and mental health needs and never attempted to
repair mother’s relationship with S so that it would be safe
for S to return to her care.
ODHS takes no position on appeal, except with
regard to the correct legal standards to be applied to par-
ents’ claims of error.
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 451
S argues that because jurisdiction was not based on
mother’s mental health or impaired cognitive functioning, it
is not clear how ODHS would have “the authority, let alone
the burden,” to require mother to participate in a psycholog-
ical evaluation and that ODHS is not obligated to offer and
provide every conceivable reunification service. Further,
S contends that, at age 13, she was old enough to advocate
for herself and determine how much contact and visitation
she wanted with her parents and that, in any event, it is
unclear how ODHS could have compelled or persuaded her
to engage in services with mother.
We conclude that the juvenile court did not err in
determining that ODHS made reasonable efforts to reunify
mother with S. ODHS provided mother with services to
address each of the admitted jurisdictional bases: substance
abuse treatment to comply with her criminal probation,
domestic violence services, “hands-on parenting” training, a
parent mentor, and housing assistance. See Dept. of Human
Services v. K. S. S., 310 Or App 498, 504, 485 P3d 924 (2021)
(explaining that “the specific issues of parental unfitness
established in the jurisdictional judgment provide the
framework for the court’s analysis of each question—that is,
both [O]DHS’s efforts and a parent’s progress are evaluated
by reference to the facts that formed the bases for juvenile
court jurisdiction” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
Although we agree with mother that referring her
for a psychological evaluation and following up with her DV
counselor’s recommendations would certainly benefit her,
we cannot say that ODHS’s failure—thus far—to do so ren-
ders its efforts unreasonable in the totality of the circum-
stances over the life of the case. Mother’s mental health was
not a jurisdictional basis. By all accounts, mother had been
complying with the case plan and engaging in services, and
she achieved trial reunification with H and expanded fam-
ily visits before she began to struggle upon moving into her
own apartment. Even after H was again removed and visits
restricted, mother successfully completed domestic violence
services in August 2025. As for the recommendations for
additional services, mother’s DV counselor provided those
only two months before the permanency hearing concluded.
452 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
Finally, we disagree with mother’s contention that
ODHS did not sufficiently tailor its efforts to reunify her
with S, specifically with regard to S’s particular educational
needs. S’s educational needs, as with her siblings, are sim-
ply to be enrolled in and regularly attending school. ODHS
implemented a family protection plan to address parents’
failure to maintain the children in school two years before
it sought jurisdiction, and the agency worked with the fam-
ily to get S enrolled in and attending school before remov-
ing her from parents’ care. Further, ODHS provided mother
with weekly assistance from November 2024 to April 2025 to
develop “hands-on parenting” skills, such as providing orga-
nization and structure in her home. We also reject mother’s
contention that ODHS failed to tailor its efforts to S’s par-
ticular mental health needs and never attempted to repair
mother’s relationship with S. To the extent S has particular
mental health needs, her symptoms arise in periods of uncer-
tainty and instability and are best supported through struc-
ture, routine, and stability that mother has not yet demon-
strated an ability to provide. S’s relationship with mother
had suffered well before S was placed in substitute care and
continues to suffer due to S’s understandable perception that
mother is not ameliorating the jurisdictional bases.
We turn to mother’s second and father’s single
assignment of error, both of which challenge the juvenile
court’s ruling changing S’s plan from reunification to guard-
ianship. We reject mother’s second assignment without fur-
ther discussion because she argues only that the juvenile
court’s predicate legal determination that ODHS made rea-
sonable efforts was erroneous, a contention that we have
already rejected.
Father argues that the juvenile court’s ruling
changing S’s plan erroneously relied on S’s particular cir-
cumstances and preferences, which, in father’s view, are not
part of the jurisdictional judgment and therefore “are not
things upon which a change in the permanency plan may be
based.” Father also contends that the juvenile court’s find-
ing, “at least with regard to mother, that additional services
would make it likely that [H, L, and N] could be returned
home in a reasonable amount of time” is inconsistent with
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 453
its finding that “it’s really hard to calculate that there’s a
reasonable amount of time that this will all turn around
and [S] can be reunified with mother.”
S responds that the juvenile court correctly iden-
tified the jurisdictional allegations and made permanency
findings based on the record before it, which included S’s
unique permanency needs and satisfaction with her kith
placement. S points out that the court’s determinations with
regard to her siblings were uncontested and that the court
expressly found that ODHS’s reasons for not seeking a plan
change for S’s siblings—because they each had recently
moved placements, and the agency wanted more time to
place them together—did not apply to S.
ODHS contends that the juvenile court may consider
a child’s preferences regarding their permanency plan. It
points to federal law, which requires the court to “consult[ ],
in an age-appropriate manner, with the child regarding the
proposed permanency or transition plan for the child[.]” 42
USC § 675(5)(C)(iii). ODHS also observes that because S had
been in substitute care for more than 17 months at the con-
clusion of the permanency hearing, ODHS is required to file
a petition to terminate parental rights, ORS 419B.498(1)(a)
and (2), unless “[t]here is a compelling reason, which is doc-
umented in the case plan, for determining that filing such
a petition would not be in the best interests of the child or
ward,” ORS 419B.498(2)(b), including that “[a]nother per-
manent plan is better suited to meet the health and safety
needs of the child or ward, including the need to preserve
the child’s or ward’s sibling attachments and relationships,”
ORS 419B.498(2)(b)(B). And because “ORS 419B.476(5) and
ORS 419B.498(2) call for a ‘child-centered’ determination
based on a current evaluation of the child’s circumstances,”
Dept. of Human Services v. S. S., 283 Or App 136, 142, 388
P3d 1178 (2016), the juvenile court “was required to consider
[S’]s particular circumstances when determining whether
a compelling reason existed to forgo changing her perma-
nency plan to adoption.”
The juvenile court did not err. As we understand its
ruling, the court did not rely on extrinsic facts in making
its determinations that ODHS made reasonable efforts to
454 Dept. of Human Services v. C. A. W. / T. W.
reunify the family and that parents failed to make sufficient
progress under ORS 419B.476(2)(a). The court expressly
found that ODHS offered father a number of services to
address his two jurisdictional bases and that, aside from
supervised parenting time, father had not actively engaged
in any of them. As to mother, the court found that she had
participated in offered services but “has not demonstrated
enough change to allow the children to be returned safely
home,” particularly in her perception of the circumstances
leading up to the children’s removal and her “continued
struggle to separate herself from her partner” despite the
existence of the no-contact order. Thus, the juvenile court’s
reasonable efforts and sufficient progress determinations
were not based on facts extrinsic to the jurisdictional
judgment.
In seeking a different result, father argues that this
case is controlled by T. L. We disagree. In that case, the
father had undisputedly ameliorated the sole jurisdictional
basis—his substance abuse—and the juvenile court none-
theless concluded that he had not made sufficient progress
for his daughter to safely return home because his daughter
was alienated from him, did not want to be reunified with
him, and would regress to unsafe behaviors if reunification
was pursued. 287 Or App at 765. We held that a juvenile
court cannot base its permanency determinations on the
“consequences” of a jurisdictional basis if that condition
“no longer persists and the consequences themselves are
not expressly stated in, and cannot be fairly implied from,
the jurisdictional judgment.” Id. at 766. Here, by contrast,
father does not challenge the juvenile court’s determination
that he has not ameliorated the jurisdictional bases, and
sufficient evidence supports the juvenile court’s determina-
tion that the conditions underlying the jurisdictional bases
continue to exist.
We next address father’s argument that the court’s
findings regarding further efforts were inconsistent. We
agree that the court exercised its discretion to determine
that further efforts will make it possible for H, L, and N
to return home within a reasonable period of time. ORS
419B.276(4)(c). And it did so expressly because all involved
Cite as 351 Or App 439 (2026) 455
parties stipulated to maintaining the plan of reunification
as to H, L, and N.
But we disagree that the juvenile court affirma-
tively made that determination with regard to S, and it was
not required to do so. See Dept. of Human Services v. C. K.,
351 Or App 13, 16-19, ___ P3d ___ (2026) (clarifying that a
juvenile court has discretion whether or not to determine if
further efforts will make it possible for the ward to return
home within a reasonable time and, if it does so, that deter-
mination is reviewed for legal error). Rather, as we under-
stand the juvenile court’s ruling, its reliance on S’s particular
circumstances and preferences related to its determinations
under ORS 419B.476(5)(e) “that the permanency plan for
[S] should be establishment of a legal guardianship” and,
concomitantly, “why neither placement with parents nor
adoption is appropriate.” As noted, those determinations are
“child-centered.” S. S., 283 Or App at 143. Thus, the juvenile
court correctly considered S’s particular circumstances and
preferences in making those determinations, and there is
ample evidence in the record to support them as a result of
S’s persistent efforts to advocate for herself. We therefore
reject father’s assignment of error.
Affirmed.