In re Dallas M.

Sara M. (defendant) was a mother whose two sons were placed in foster care when she went to jail. Sara’s sons were later adjudicated as children in need of protection. The La Crosse County Department of Human Services (the department) (plaintiff) had been providing services to Sara for almost two years prior to her incarceration, after receiving a referral that her children were neglected and abused. Permanency plans were provided and reviewed during the time the department provided services. The services provided without charge to Sara included the provision of a caseworker, parental aid, counselors, therapists, transportation, supervised visitation, respite care, childcare, employment rehabilitation, and foster care. Despite all of these services, Sara did not make sufficient progress toward having her children returned. Sara did not meet her sons’ basic needs, did not offer a stable home, and associated with violent men who kept physically abusing her. Sara did not attend 17 of the 50 appointments with her first counselor and missed 25 percent of the appointments with a subsequent counselor. Eventually, Sara’s parental rights were terminated, and Sara appealed. On appeal, Sara asserted that a circuit court had erred in various ways, including violating her right to due process by filing permanency plans later than the statutory deadline, not reviewing the plans on time, and providing the plans on a form instead of in a narrative format. Sara never objected to the format of the forms when the permanency plans were reviewed in various hearings. Sara also found fault with the jury’s factual findings that the department had made diligent efforts to offer Sara services that would facilitate her sons’ return to her custody. However, Sara had never alleged that the services provided were not sufficient.