Court enters case services plan, sets reunification goal for father in Lenawee County juvenile case

The Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court entered an initial disposition for respondent father Austin Dubey at a virtual hearing, adopting a case services plan and naming reunification as the permanency goal.

The court received a court report and a proposed case services plan and ordered that the plan be entered into the file so the department may begin making referrals and paying for services outlined in the plan. The judge directed that the children remain in their current placement and approved therapeutic supervised visitation as the next step while additional assessments proceed.

The department’s caseworker, Atlas Dimock, told the court that two of the children were "really smiley and happy" during a recent visit and that the placement with a maternal relative had produced "a lot of positives" in the children’s behavior. Dimock said trauma assessments and a bonding component had been scheduled and that two parents had completed or were completing intake with a therapist identified in the file.

Dimock identified the primary barriers to reunification as substance abuse and domestic violence, which have not yet been resolved through court-ordered services. Dimock said referrals already submitted included the therapeutic visitation referral and assessments; she testified that the therapeutic parenting time was expected to occur about once a week for one hour and that Austin Dubey was set to do an intake for therapeutic visitation the following day.

On housing and employment, Dimock said Dubey’s housing had been observed and found to be appropriate and that Dubey works as a delivery driver for Domino’s. Dimock told the court she believed individual counseling should be a primary focus for Dubey’s case services.

Department counsel requested the court enter the initial disposition order and incorporate the case services plan so services can begin. "We would just ask the court to enter in the initial disposition order, and, with that case service plan as part of the order so that Mister Dubey can start the services that are outlined in there and that the agency would have the authority to make those referrals and pay for the services," counsel said.

Another attorney, identified in the record as Ms. Singh, told the court she had no objections to the department’s request and said Dubey "is on track and doing really well" based on the testimony; she asked the court to set a further review on the same schedule the department requested.

The court noted that services had not yet begun but that Dubey had taken some voluntary steps and had expressed eagerness to begin drug screening to demonstrate sobriety. Caseworkers testified that no drug tests had been administered yet and that a court order would be required to start court-ordered testing.

The judge directed the parties and agency to follow any recommendations from the therapist Renee Moore if Moore suggested expanding visitation or changing therapeutic conditions. The court set a next review hearing for Jan. 13 at 2:30 p.m. and ordered the case services plan to become part of the court’s order so progress can be measured against the areas identified as risks to the children.

The court’s order leaves the children in their current placement as the least restrictive, safest option under the circumstances and authorizes the department to proceed with the referrals and assessments described in the case services plan. The court explicitly noted that, until recommended services are completed or the court orders otherwise, the permanency goal for the children is reunification.