Judge increases supervised visits to 2 hours for child Dralin; department remains temporary managing conservator

A judge in the High Plains Child Protection Court continued custody of a young child identified as Dralin with the department as temporary managing conservator and increased the parents' supervised visitation to two hours per week, the court said during a review hearing conducted by Zoom.

The decision follows a caseworker update that both parents are submitting to drug testing, that the father screened negative on a urine analysis on March 7 and that the mother, Ashley Turner, had a hair-follicle test that remained positive but at a low level. "It was still positive, but she's only 60 days out from her sober date. But it was a low number, I think, 1,700," the caseworker reported. The judge said he would expand visitation as long as testing trends remain favorable.

The court's finding matters because the increased visitation is a step toward reunification but conditioned on continued negative testing and compliance with services. The judge ordered visits supervised by Saint Francis and said the department would remain temporary managing conservator because of a continuing danger to return the child home.

Case details and services The caseworker told the court that the parents have begun counseling with a provider named Jennings, that Jennings will provide couples counseling, and that the parents were scheduled for an outpatient assessment with Antonio Graves to develop a relapse-prevention plan. The caseworker said additional outpatient treatment was being arranged after the mother's positive drug result. The parents have been preparing the home and the child’s room; Dralin is placed with grandparents in a kinship placement who were licensed through the Bear Foundation and the child has started a Mother's Day Out program. Medical and dental care are current, and reported visitations have been going well.

The mother, Ashley Turner, spoke briefly during the hearing. She said she finished inpatient treatment in early February and that she planned to do an outpatient assessment that day. She told the judge she was about 32 weeks pregnant and provided a phone number for contact.

Court's direction and conditions The judge described progress as "moving in the right direction" and granted two hours of supervised visitation weekly, saying: "I'll increase your visits to the 2 hours a week supervised by Saint Francis right now as long as your drug tests, you know, those hair levels continue to drop and UA stay negative." He cautioned that a new positive UA or an increased hair-test level would jeopardize visitation: "If we get a positive UA or we get a hair test that's gone back up, then we've got a problem. I mean, we've got we've got a big problem at that point." The judge also said placement caregivers may be asked to supervise visits later as the parties progress toward unsupervised contact.

Scheduling and next steps The court continued the department as temporary managing conservator, continued Dralin's current placement and set a final hearing for June 3 at 9:00 a.m. to review progress and next steps. The judge repeatedly emphasized the importance of continued negative drug tests and completion of required services.

Ending The judge closed the hearing by urging the parents to maintain sobriety and compliance with services so the court can consider further increases in visitation and potential reunification at the June review.