Department of Human Services v. J. F. D.

In this juvenile dependency case, father appeals from a dispositional judgment in which the juvenile court determined that the Department of Human Services (DHS or the department) had made reasonable efforts to eliminate the need for removal of the child, D, from the home. Although he does not challenge the juvenile court’s disposition per se (“return to parent” with a concurrent plan of adoption), father argues that the court’s “reasonable efforts” conclusion was erroneous because the department did not contact him in the seven months between the filing of the jurisdictional petition and the…