Justice & LawBrief
Oregon guardianship challenge withdrawn as parents seek expanded visitation
A November 11 investigation describes a guardianship dispute and a former congregant’s account, alongside Oregon’s historical changes to care-related statutes.
The numbers
- Dependent-person threshold in the 2011 amendment to ORS 163.206(4)
- 15 to 18 years
Birth parents in an Oregon family case withdrew their October challenge to a permanent guardianship in November and are seeking expanded visitation, an investigation published November 11 reported.
Noelle Crombie’s investigation for The Oregonian/OregonLive, co-published with ProPublica, traces the guardianship to state intervention in 2017. An adult former congregant told Crombie that he weighed the possibility of prosecution while deciding to seek hospital care for his son.
A 2011 Oregon act changed two provisions concerning spiritual treatment and care. It deleted a paragraph in ORS 419B.100 that said choosing prayer or spiritual care alone could not be treated as a failure to provide physical care. The former paragraph also preserved a court’s jurisdiction under a referenced subsection.
Another amendment raised the age threshold for a dependent person in a specified spiritual-treatment exception to criminal mistreatment, from 15 to 18 years, under ORS 163.206(4). The amendments took effect June 9, 2011, and applied to conduct occurring on or after that date.
What we don't know yet
- How will the reported request for expanded visitation be resolved?
- If an agreed or court-approved arrangement changes, how would responsibility for medical-care decisions be handled?
Timeline
Oregon’s chapter 291 amendments took effect.
The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica published the investigation.