In re Janna Lynn M.
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MAINE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT				Reporter of Decisions
Decision:	2002 ME 45
Docket: 	Aro-01-693
Submitted 
  on Briefs:  	March 5, 2002
Decided:	March 27, 2002

Panel: 	SAUFLEY, C.J., CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, ALEXANDER, and CALKINS, JJ.

IN RE JANNA LYNN M. et al.

CALKINS, J.

	[¶1]  The parents of Janna Lynn M., Alexander M., and Zachary M. 
appeal from a preliminary child protection order entered in the District Court
(Houlton, Griffiths, J.) granting custody of the children to the Department of
Human Services (DHS).  They primarily claim a violation of their due process
rights because of the refusal of the court to hold a jeopardy hearing.  We
dismiss the appeal as moot.

I.  BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURE

	[¶2]  This proceeding began on August 15, 2000, when DHS filed a
petition for a child protection order and a request for an order of preliminary
child protection concerning Janna Lynn and Alexander.  The petition stated
that the children were neglected because of the parents' unkempt home and car
and their failure to keep the children clean.  The petition also alleged that the
parents failed to protect the children from the threat of sexual abuse by
Raymond L., the mother's brother, an untreated sex-offender, who was living
with the family.  That same day the District Court granted the preliminary
protection order and DHS took temporary custody of the children.  On August
24, the parents consented to the temporary order and waived the summary
preliminary hearing.
	[¶3]  On November 3, 2000, Zachary was born, and the next day the
court granted DHS custody of him pursuant to a child protection petition and
request for a preliminary child protection order.  The court held a summary
preliminary hearing on November 9, found that DHS had not shown an
immediate risk of serious harm, and ordered that custody of the infant be
returned to the parents.
	[¶4]  On December 14, 2000, by agreement of the parties, the court
entered a jeopardy order regarding Janna Lynn and Alexander, reciting that
jeopardy consisted of the threat of the parents' neglect of the children and their
failure to protect the children from a threat of sexual abuse.  Also by
agreement of the parties, the court granted custody of the two children to the
parents, ordered the parents to participate in services, and ordered that DHS
supervise the custody and have unrestricted access to the children.  With
regard to Zachary, the court, again by agreement of the parties, entered a
jeopardy order on January 11, 2001, finding that jeopardy was based upon "the
threat of neglect, the threat of lack of supervision, and the threat of failure to
protect."   
	[¶5]  A judicial review regarding all three children was held in May 2001,
and the parties agreed to the entry of an order stating that the parents'
progress with the case plan was good and that the prior custody and
supervision arrangements were to remain in place.  Another review hearing was
set for November 2001.
	[¶6]  On July 25, 2001, DHS filed a request for a preliminary order of
child protection with regard to all three children.  DHS alleged that the
children were immediately threatened by serious harm in the form of a threat
of sexual abuse by Matthew L., another brother of the mother, who had been
convicted of gross sexual misconduct in 1986.  DHS had discovered Matthew
L.'s presence at a home where the parents, along with the children, had been
housesitting.  That same day, the court granted the request and gave custody
of the children to DHS.
	[¶7]  At the summary preliminary hearing on August 2, 2001, the DHS
caseworker and casework supervisor testified, as did both parents.  The court
prohibited the parents from calling Matthew L. and the owner of the house
where they had been staying to testify to the circumstances surrounding the
period during which Matthew L. was in close proximity to the children.  The
court found that the children were in immediate risk of serious harm and
upheld the earlier preliminary protection order.  The court declined to schedule
a jeopardy hearing and stated that the next proceedings in the case would be a
case management conference on October 4, 2001, and the judicial review
hearing set for November 8, 2001.  On October 4, the court reduced its oral
findings to writing and issued the summary preliminary hearing order,
declaring that the preliminary child protection order would remain in full force
and effect.  Both parents then filed a notice of appeal. 
	[¶8]  While the appeal was progressing, the court held a contested
judicial review over three days from November 8, 2001 to January 31, 2002.  At
its conclusion the court found that the parents had failed to protect the
children from the threat of sexual abuse the previous July and that the
children continued to be in jeopardy.  It also found that the parents'
compliance with the case plan was unacceptable and that the parents' distrust
of DHS and the service providers had caused the parents not to prosper in
those services.  Finally, the court found that the parents were untrustworthy,
noting that they had adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding the
mother's current pregnancy.  The court ordered that custody of the three
children remain with DHS.

II.  DISCUSSION

	[¶9]  The statutory scheme fails to provide a procedure for removing
children from their parents' home in the situation where there is an on-going
child protection proceeding and the court has found jeopardy but has ordered
that the children remain with the parents.  There is a statutory preference for
maintaining custody of children with their parents if appropriate conditions
can protect the children from jeopardy and it is in their best interests.  22
M.R.S.A. §  4036(2) (1992).  Given this preference, it is unfortunate that there
is no explicit statutory procedure for removal of the children from the home
when conditions substantially change. 
	[¶10]  Without a statutory procedure, DHS apparently decided that a
request for a preliminary child protection order was the best way to bring the
children's situation to the attention of the court.  However, the use of that
request caused confusion.{1}  The statutory authorization for a preliminary child
protection order includes the procedure to be followed when the request is
made and includes the burden upon DHS to obtain such an order.  22
M.R.S.A. § 4034 (1992 & Supp. 2001).  When a preliminary order is issued, it
must be followed within ten days by a summary hearing.  Id. § 4034(4) (Supp.
2001).  Because the request for the preliminary order is almost always filed
with the initial petition, it means that the summary hearing is followed by a
final jeopardy hearing.  Id. § 4035(4-A) (Supp. 2001).  Thus, the expectation of
the litigants, when the preliminary protection request is utilized, is that the
summary hearing will be followed by a jeopardy hearing.  Here, however, that
final jeopardy hearing did not occur following the summary hearing because
the court had already determined jeopardy, by agreement of the parties, several
months earlier.
	[¶11]  The parents argue that they were constitutionally or statutorily
entitled to a further jeopardy hearing following the summary hearing.  Because
the parents have now had a subsequent judicial review hearing, the parents
have been provided with the very relief they seek.  At that judicial review
hearing the court determined that the parents had once again placed the
children in jeopardy in that they had failed to protect them from the threat of
sexual abuse the previous July.  
	[¶12]  When an appellate decision cannot afford the appellants any
effective relief, we do not review the case.  In re Misty B., 2000 ME 67, ¶ 7, 749
A.2d 754, 756.  This case is moot because we cannot offer the parents any more
relief than what they have already received through the judicial review
proceeding held in November, December, and January.  Even if DHS should not
have couched its emergency request in terms of a preliminary protection order
and even if the court should have acceded to the parents' request for a different
process, because of the earlier jeopardy agreement the court was well within its
statutory authorization to determine at the judicial review hearing that the
children were in jeopardy and to place custody of those children with DHS. 
The parents' claim that the evidence at the summary hearing was insufficient
to show that the children were in immediate risk of serious harm is likewise
moot because of the subsequent judicial review hearing at which the court was
not required to find immediate risk as a prerequisite of placing the children
with DHS.  Compare 22 M.R.S.A. § 4034(4) with id. § 4035(2) (1992).
	The entry is:
			Appeal dismissed.Attorneys for appellants:

James M. Dunleavy, Esq.
Dunleavy Law Offices, P.A.
P O Box 33
Presque Isle, ME 04769-0033

Richard L. Rhoda, Esq.
P O Box 743
Houlton, ME 04730

Attorneys for appellee:

G. Steven Rowe, Attorney General
Matthew Pollack, Asst. Attorney General
Heidi Silver, Asst. Attorney General
6 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0006

Guardian ad Litem:

Margaret T. Johnson, Esq.
87 Dupont Drive
Presque Isle, ME 04769