I.  Active Efforts

In re N.B., 199 P.3d 16 (Colo. App. 2007)
The active efforts requirement focuses on reunifying the broken Indian family.

Guidelines for State Courts: Indian Child Custody Proceedings, 44 Fed. Reg. 67584, 67592 D.2
These efforts should take into account the prevailing social and cultural conditions and way of life of the Indian child’s tribe and should involve and use the available resources of the extended family, the tribe, Indian social service agencies, and individual Indian caregivers.

25 U.S.C. § 1912(d)
People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
Before a child is placed in foster care or the court terminates parental rights, the social services department must show that active efforts have been made to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs to prevent the breakup of the Indian family.

In re N.B., 199 P.3d 16 (Colo. App. 2007)
The active efforts requirement applies to stepparent adoption proceedings.
    
People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
Active efforts are equivalent to reasonable efforts to provide or offer a treatment plan in a non-ICWA case and must be tailored to the circumstances of the case.

People in Interest of C.A.J., 709 P.2d 604 (Colo. App. 1985)

People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
The social services department may meet the active efforts requirement by:
  • Offering the parent services under court ordered treatment plans;
  • Providing formal or informal efforts to remedy a parent’s deficiencies before dependency proceedings begin;
  • Offering a voluntary services program.




In re N.B., 199 P.3d 16 (Colo. App. 2007)

In re N.B., 199 P.3d 16 (Colo. App. 2007)
A stepparent seeking to adopt an Indian child may meet the active efforts requirement by:
  • Informing the child of his biological parent’s identity;
  • Attempting to preserve the parent/child relationship, by showing the child pictures of the biological parent.
People in Interest of C.A.J., 709 P.2d 604 (Colo. App. 1985)
The social services department may show the efforts were unsuccessful in reuniting the family when the parent was unable and unwilling to comply with the plan.

People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
The department need not persist with futile efforts. 


People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
Futile efforts exist when:
  • The parent has already received services that did not reunify the family.  For example, when a parent had received services in two prior dependency proceedings and those services were intended to resolve the same problem at issue in the current case, no additional services were necessary to comply with the active efforts requirement.
People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
The question of whether abandoning a child makes efforts futile should be determined on a case-by-case basis.

People in Interest of K.D., 155 P.3d 634 (Colo. App. 2007)
There should be a finding or conclusion that there is no reason to conclude additional treatment would prevent the termination of parental rights.