SUMMARY: An order declining to establish a rehabilitation plan is a final, appealable order. Declining to adopt a rehabilitation plan was not in error where the parents refuse to acknowledge the severity of the child’s injuries and the child requires constant care in an institutionalized setting.
On January 22, 1996, paramedics brought Tabatha (DOB 12/29/1995) to the hospital in full cardiac and pulmonary arrest; Tabatha was placed on life support. Tabatha was adjudicated on May 3, 1996. On the same date, the juvenile court held it was in Tabatha’s best interest that life support be discontinued and that Tabatha not be resuscitated. The mother timely appealed, and the father cross-appealed. The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the order, holding the juvenile court erred in determining to withdraw life support measures. On June 23, 1997, after the Nebraska Supreme Court had issued the opinion but before the mandate was filed, the juvenile court set the matter for disposition. The State filed a motion to terminate the parental rights on October 17, 1997. At the dispositional hearings held October 17 and December 22, the case manager recommended that a rehabilitation plan not be provided for either parent because both parents were confined, Tabatha had considerable medical needs, and the mother had a history of relationships with physically aggressive men. There was evidence that Tabatha’s condition had not improved and she was residing in a 24-hour nursing home. The juvenile court did not permit the parents to ask the case worker who the case worker thought caused Tabatha’s injuries. Though both parents expressed a desire to regain custody of Tabatha, the mother had been imprisoned for violating the terms of her parole until the day before the disposition hearing, and the father was confined after being found not guilty of robbery by reason of insanity. The mother testified that she had completed coursework in parenting, self-esteem and family relations while in prison. In a December 22, 1997 order, the juvenile court adopted the DHHS’ recommendation that no rehabilitative plan be ordered for either parent because the parents failed to appreciate the severity of the child’s condition. The mother filed a timely notice of appeal, and the father timely cross-appealed. On January 13, 1998, the State filed a motion to produce medical records pursuant to the motion to terminate parental rights, but the juvenile court granted the parents’ oral motions to undergo independent psychiatric evaluations.
The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the juvenile court’s December 22, 1997 order declining to establish a rehabilitation plan affected a substantial right and was appealable; thus the juvenile court did not have jurisdiction to enter orders relating to State’s motion to terminate once the mother appealed the December 22 order. In addition, the juvenile court did not err in adopting DHHS’ recommendation that a rehabilitation plan not be adopted for either parent because neither parent acknowledged the severity of Tabatha’s injuries, and Tabatha required constant care in an institutional setting. Under the facts of the case, a plan would have little chance of success. In addition, the juvenile court did not commit reversible error in not permitting the parents to question the case worker about the case worker’s belief in who caused Tabatha’s injuries or about treatment of other juvenile cases, or in refusing to admit certificates of attendance and completion of prison classes.