I. FACTS
When reviewing a judgment of jurisdiction, we determine whether, on the record before it, the juvenile court erred in making the statutorily prescribed determination. Dept. of Human Services v. N. P. ,
In December 2016, DHS received a report that J was exposed to a dangerous person. A DHS caseworker interviewed J at school and interviewed parents at their home. DHS did not find sufficient evidence to proceed and was in the process of closing the case when, on February 3, 2017, DHS received a report regarding a concerning photo on J's phone. On February 4, 2017, an employee of Jackson County Children's Advocacy Center interviеwed J. A DHS caseworker and two police officers observed the interview. DHS determined that J had taken the photo herself, resolving the concern about the photo.
During the course of the interview on February 4, J made certain disclosures unrelated to the photo. First, she disclosed that parents smoke marijuana. J said parents told
J also admitted that parents sometimes fight or argue. In J's own words:
"Q: Do mom and dad ever have fights or arguments?
"A: Yeah they do * * *.
"Q: So tell me what happens when mom and dad have arguments.
"A: They just fight fight fight fight fight and fight and it's just that it hurts my feelings. I think that dad's gonna-last time my dad fighted so bad in our old house he punched a hole in the wall and guess what I think that's gonna happen again. He said no.
"Q: So dad punched a hole in the wall?
"A: Yeah when we were in our old house but he's not gonna do it ever again. He's not gonna fight in front of me ever again.
"Q: Have you ever seen dad punch anything else that's different from the wall?
"A: No.
"Q: When mom and dad have arguments does anyone ever hit?
"A: No he just hits his arm.
"Q: When mom and dad have arguments does anyone ever cry?
"A: No.
"Q: And you said it hurts your feelings?
"A: It doesn't hurt my feelings so bad I cry."
As a result of those disclosures, a DHS caseworker, accompanied by two police officers, went to visit J's parents later the same day. Parents were living at a motel. Mother was alone in the motel room when DHS and the police
DHS immediately went to grandmother's house and took custody of J. The parties agree that the record is sparse as to J's precise living arrangements at that time. However, J was splitting her time in some mаnner between staying with parents at the motel and staying with grandmother at grandmother's house. When DHS went to the motel on February 4, J had been staying with grandmother since at least the previous evening and possibly longer. At the motel, a DHS caseworker spoke with mother about the possibility of eventually placing J with grandmother. In that process, she asked mother some questions about drug use and safety. Mother denied recent drug use. When asked about the wall-punching incident that J mentioned, mother confirmed that father had punched a hole in the wall at one timе and that it scared her. Asked if she felt safe in the home, mother answered, "Most of the time." She did not elaborate.
On February 6, parents met with a DHS caseworker, who questioned them about their drug use. Both denied being under the influence of methamphetamine at the meeting, but the caseworker suspected that they were. As for historic drug use, mother admitted that she and father had "relapsed," that they had been using methamphetamine for three and a half months, and that things "started to really go downhill for them" after DHS's visit in December. As mother described their illegal drug use to the caseworker, father interrupted mother, saying, "You need to stop talking and shut up." The meeting ended shortly thereafter. Through a window in her office, the caseworker saw parents walking to their car to depart. She could not hear
DHS filed a dependency petition, alleging jurisdiction over J on five bases:
"A. The [mother]'s substance abuse interferes with her ability to safely parent the child.
"B. Domestic violence in the mother's home creates a harmful environment for thе child.
"C. The [father]'s substance abuse interferes with his ability to safely parent the child.
"D. Domestic violence in the father's home creates a harmful environment for the child.
"E. The father is involved in criminal activities that interfere with his ability to safely parent the child."
The court held a jurisdictional hearing in June 2017. DHS voluntarily dropped jurisdictional basis E.
II. ANALYSIS
The juvenile court has jurisdiction over a child whose "condition or circumstances are such as to endanger the [child's] welfare." ORS 419B.100(1)(c). To establish jurisdiction, DHS must present evidence "sufficient to support a conсlusion that the child's condition or circumstances expose the child to a current threat of serious loss or injury that is likely to be realized." Dept. of Human Services v. A. W. ,
A. Scope of the Appeal
As a preliminary matter, we address the scope of the appeal. The juvenile court asserted jurisdiction on four bases, two regarding father and two regarding mother. Only father has appealed, but he challenges all four bases of jurisdiction. Father relies on Dept. of Human Services v. S. P. ,
In S. P. , the juvenile court asserted jurisdiction over a newborn child on five bases: mother's developmental delays and mental health concerns, mother's ability to meet the child's basic needs, father not presenting himself as a parenting rеsource, father's mental health concerns and anger control issues, and father having not demonstrated the ability to provide the child with necessary care. Id . at 83,
The same is true here. DHS and the juvenile court viewed parents as a unit. The allegations and evidence regarding father and the allegations and evidence regarding
B. Domestic Violence
Turning to the merits, we begin with jurisdictional bases B and D: that domestic violence in parents' home creates a harmful environment for J.
DHS was required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence both that domestic violence occurred in parents' home and that it endangered J's welfarе within the meaning of the jurisdictional statute. ORS 419B.310(3) ; Dept. of Human Services v. D. T. C. ,
"I think the evidence is consistent with showing that the domestic violеnce has begun to have an impact on [J] by the fact that she said she was scared and it hurt her feelings. And as we know domestic violence can have a profound impact on children's brain development, their ability to form attachments. And so I think even just exposure to power and control and the yelling, which I think is what's largely going on here, which is clearly enough for domestic violence, put her at risk. And I do think that there is a nexus between the evidence that has been presented today and the risk of harm to the child. There is a risk of harm with domestic viоlence that occurs in front of her and that domestic violence is between her parents and she has witnessed it and heard it."
As a starting point, it is unnecessary to decide the complicated question raised by father's arguments as to what constitutes "domestic violence." We have never categorically defined domestic violence and need not do so now. See, e.g. , State v. S. T. S. ,
The evidence offered by DHS in this case was insufficient to establish jurisdiction over J based on domestic violence. There is no evidence that father has ever hit or threatened mother, or that mother has ever hit or threatened father. The juvenile сourt found that "exposure to power and control and the yelling" was "what's largely going on here." On that point, there was evidence that parents have argued in front of J in the past and that J worries they will do so again. DHS offered no evidence, however, that parents have
Our decision in Dept. of Human Services v. K. C. F. ,
Similarly, in A. W. ,
In this case, there is evidence that parents have yelled at each other in J's presence, at least in the past; that father once punched a wall at their "old house," which scared J and mother and led father to promise J that he and mother would never fight in her presence again; and that father interrupted mother and later yelled at mоther when J was not present, after she disclosed parents' illegal drug use to a DHS employee. Such conduct is not ideal by any means. As in K. C. F. and A. W. , however, DHS failed to put in evidence sufficient to prove that parents' conduct toward one another is of a nature or severity that creates a current threat of serious loss or injury to J that is likely to be realized.
C. Substance Abuse
The juvenile court also took jurisdiction over J on the bases that father's substance abuse (allegation C) and mother's substance abuse (allegation A) interferes with their ability to safely parent J. Mother admitted to the DHS caseworker that she and father had "relapsed," that they had begun using methamphetamine again around mid-October 2016, and that things had "started to really go downhill for them" in December 2016. Father does not contest that DHS proved that parents used methamphetamine. Rather, father
"We have recognized on several occasions that a parent's substance abuse alone does not create a risk of harm to a child." E. M. ,
The Supreme Court has firmly rejected "the proposition that any specifiс condition or circumstance per se does, or does not, establish the juvenile court's jurisdiction." State ex rel. Juv. Dept. v. Smith ,
"In terms of the substance abuse, methamphetamine is a scourge, and it's the reason that most of our cases come before dependency court. It puts kids in extreme danger. The fact that-just the fact alone that a kid is in a hotel room, when I think about that has, what, a one bedroom essentially living area and a bathroom? And that a kid's in a hotel room where there is $927 in cash, or whatever amount of cash, that there's drugs, that there's safes, that there's a scale, I mean, the fact that is just present with a kid is way enough to show how that interferes . Because that is so unsafe for a child to be around, considering the kind of people that are associated with methamphetamine possession and distribution . It's scary. It is really scary. And it's scary you would put a 5 year old in that situation. And then the fact that they both admitted that they'd relapsed and the fact that being-you know, trying to parent a 5 year old while you're under the influence or coming down from methamphetamine, I don't care if you're doing it in the bathroom, that is unsafe for your child. You're not able to make good decisions. You're not able to have good judgment. You, you know, can stay up for hours or days on end, you can crash for days on end, and you're just not going to meet the needs of your child. So, I do absolutely find that substance abuse impacted and interfered with your ability to safely parent your child."
(Emphases added.)
In so ruling, the juvenile court asserted jurisdiction based on generalizations about a particular "condition or circumstance"-methamphetamine use-rather than relying on evidence of J's specific conditions and circumstances. Smith ,
Here, DHS offered no evidеnce that parents used methamphetamine in J's presence, exposed J to dangerous
Significantly, DHS offered no evidence regarding the circumstances in which parents use methamphetamine as relevant to their ability to parent J. For example, DHS offered no evidence that parents were high "for hours or days on end" while J was in their care, "crash[ed] for days on end" while J was in their care, or did not "meet the nеeds of" J due to methamphetamine use. Those statements by the court appear to refer to its experience with other methamphetamine users, not evidence regarding these parents. There is no evidence that mother and father were habitually passed out or otherwise left J unsupervised while they used drugs. See D. T. C. ,
D. Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse Together
At the conclusion of its answering brief, DHS suggests that, even if the evidence is insufficient to establish jurisdiction on any one of the asserted grounds, it is sufficient to establish jurisdiction when viewed together as a whole. We disagree. "DHS is correct that we do not view each allegation in а dependency petition in isolation, but must consider each allegation in connection with any other allegations because sometimes two allegations together present a more compelling case than either one alone." Dept. of Human Services v. G. J. R. ,
In this case, there is no evidence of a material relationship between parents' substance abuse and any domestic violence in
Asserting multiple bases for jurisdiction does not lessen DHS's burden of proof. This is not a case in which two related allegations "present a more compelling case than either one alone," G. J. R. ,
Reversed.
Notes
Consistent with the withdrawal of allegation E, DHS's arguments on appeal are focused on parents' use of drugs, not any alleged drug dealing. Mother told a police officer at the motel that father occasionally sold methamphetamine, but there is no evidence that he did so from a place where J lived (their "old house" or the motel room) or in J's presence. See State v. Gonzalez-Valenzuela ,
By contrast, in S. T. S. ,
