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MTM v. LD2/14/2002
This appeal constitutes one more chapter in a saga that has been ongoing since 1992, involving the father, the Natrona County and the Sheridan County Departments of Family Services (DFS), *fn3 the minor child KJD, and the grandparents. KJD was born on November 27, 1987, in Birmingham, Alabama, and resided with her parents in Clanton, Alabama, until May 1992. Her father was arrested in May 1992 for possession of marijuana. Shortly thereafter, her mother packed up her and KJD's belongings, and she and KJD left the state. They were in Baltimore, Maryland, for a short period of time, and then made their way to Wyoming where the mother's father and brother lived.
[ ] During the four years KJD lived in Alabama with her parents, she remembers that her mother was often intoxicated and her father smoked marijuana. She testified that her father once tied up her mother, abusing and hitting her. After an abuse/neglect report was filed in January 1988, the Alabama Family Services Department became involved with the family. There were five reports concerning KJD as of February 1992. The last two reports, received in February 1991 and February 1992, alleged that the father had physically abused and neglected KJD; however, the record does not indicate whether the abuse or neglect was substantiated or adjudicated.
[ ] The mother was incarcerated in Casper for public intoxication in May 1992. After a juvenile court hearing on June 2, 1992, KJD was placed in protective custody with DFS. *fn4
Subsequently, the mother worked on her sobriety and tried to achieve the case plan goals developed for her by DFS. DFS provided the mother with psychological treatment, alcohol treatment, and allowed her visitation with KJD. The mother moved into a facility in Casper for mothers and children, where she continued her treatment. She was able to stay sober for two months at a time, and came close to family reunification, but she would begin drinking again and reunification would not occur.
[ ] The father began his involvement with DFS in January 1993, after he learned that KJD had been placed in DFS' protective custody. He called DFS from Alabama stating his intention to regain custody of KJD. The mother had advised DFS that she did not know who KJD's father was, and no father's name was listed on KJD's birth certificate. *fn5 A DFS worker explained to the father that a home study on his Alabama residence would be necessary before placement could be made. In compliance with the Interstate Compact for Placement of Children (ICPC), DFS initiated a home study on the father's Alabama residence on March 1, 1993.
[ ] The father hitchhiked from Alabama to Casper in March 1993. He lived at the Central Wyoming Rescue Mission for several weeks, and again contacted DFS concerning custody of KJD. He then moved into a tent at his place of employment, and DFS conducted a home study on this residence. The mother informed DFS that the father had abused her and KJD, and she did not want KJD placed with the father. DFS again discussed with the father the steps he would need to take in order to gain custody of KJD, but he was uncooperative and failed to follow through on all except one of the recommendations. *fn6
[ ] DFS contacted KJD's maternal grandparents in the summer of 1993, and they agreed to have a home study conducted for possible placement of KJD with them. In August 1993, the mother moved to Sheridan to live with LD and ED. On October 5, 1993, DFS completed its home study on the father and denied placement of KJD with him because of his living environment--a tent rather than a single-family dwelling. DFS completed its home study on the grandparents on September 22, 1993, and placed KJD with them on Oc
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