Jane Doe Vs. Iowa Department Of Human Services ( 2010 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 09–0716
Filed July 9, 2010
JANE DOE,
Appellant,
vs.
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES,
Appellee.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County,
Michael J. Schilling, Judge.
A mother appeals from a district court decision affirming an Iowa
Department of Human Services’ decision to place her name on the child
abuse registry. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
Elizabeth A. Norris, Iowa City, Jessica J. Taylor and Michelle
Mackel-Wiederanders, Des Moines, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Paul F. Kraus, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Tina L.B. Fisher, Des Moines, for amici curiae Iowa Coalition
Against Domestic Violence, Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault,
Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women Family, The Family Violence
Prevention Fund, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
2
Thomas W. Foley of Babich, Goldman, Cashatt & Renzo, P.C., Des
Moines, for amicus curiae Children & Families of Iowa.
3
WIGGINS, Justice.
In this appeal, Jane Doe 1 seeks a ruling reversing the judgment of
the district court affirming the Iowa Department of Human Services’
(DHS) final decision finding Doe had committed child abuse and placing
her name on the central child abuse registry. 2 Specifically, the district
court affirmed DHS’s final decision finding Doe had committed child
abuse by denying her child critical care due to Doe’s failure to provide for
the proper supervision of her child in 2001 and 2002, when she
repeatedly exposed her child to the child’s father, the perpetrator of
numerous incidents of domestic abuse against Doe.
On appeal, Doe raises three issues as to why her name should not
be on the child abuse registry. First, she argues substantial evidence
does not support the finding that she committed child abuse. Next, Doe
contends the legislature did not authorize DHS to place her name on the
registry for failing to provide for the proper supervision of her child.
Finally, she asserts DHS’s practice of holding domestic violence victims
responsible for the actions of their perpetrators is against public policy.
Because we agree with Doe’s contention that the legislature did not
authorize DHS to place Doe’s name on the registry for failing to provide
for the proper supervision of her child, we do not consider Doe’s other
arguments on appeal. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the
district court, and remand the case to the agency to remove Doe’s name
from the child abuse registry.
1We have changed the name of the appellant pursuant to Iowa Court Rule 21.28
in order to keep the appellant’s identity confidential.
2DHS did not contend Doe’s challenge to her placement on the registry was
untimely.
4
I. Statutory Framework.
The outcome of this appeal depends on our interpretation of
various statutes and rules dealing with child abuse and the child abuse
registry. The first statute we need to interpret is chapter 232’s definition
of “child abuse.” This statute defines “child abuse,” in part, as:
The failure on the part of a person responsible for the care of
a child to provide for the adequate food, shelter, clothing or
other care necessary for the child’s health and welfare when
financially able to do so or when offered financial or other
reasonable means to do so.
Iowa Code § 232.68(2)(d) (2001) 3 (emphasis added).
DHS refers to this subsection of the definition of “child abuse” in
shorthand by using the term “denial of critical care.” See Iowa Admin.
Code r. 441—175.21 (2001) (defining “denial of critical care”). In Iowa
Administrative Code rule 441—175.21, DHS interprets the meaning of
the “denial of critical care” definition of “child abuse” by enumerating
eight circumstances that constitute a “denial of critical care.” Id. The
rule states in relevant part:
“Denial of critical care” is the failure on the part of a
person responsible for the care of a child to provide for the
adequate food, shelter, clothing or other care necessary for
the child’s health and welfare when financially able to do so,
or when offered financial or other reasonable means to do so,
and shall mean any of the following:
1. Failure to provide adequate food and nutrition to
the extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or
death.
2. Failure to provide adequate shelter to the extent
that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.
3. Failure to provide adequate clothing to the extent
that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.
3All references to the Iowa Code are to the 2001 Code unless otherwise noted.
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4. Failure to provide adequate health care to the
extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or
death. A parent or guardian legitimately practicing religious
beliefs who does not provide specified medical treatment for
a child for that reason alone shall not be considered abusing
the child and shall not be placed on the child abuse registry.
However, a court may order that medical service be provided
where the child’s health requires it.
5. Failure to provide the mental health care necessary
to adequately treat an observable and substantial
impairment in the child’s ability to function.
6. Gross failure to meet the emotional needs of the
child necessary for normal development.
7. Failure to provide for the proper supervision of the
child to the extent that there is danger of the child suffering
injury or death, and which a reasonable and prudent person
would exercise under similar facts and circumstances.
8. Failure to respond to the infant’s life-threatening
conditions (also known as withholding medically indicated
treatment) by providing treatment (including appropriate
nutrition, hydration and medication) which in the treating
physician’s reasonable medical judgment will be most likely
to be effective in ameliorating or correcting all conditions,
except that the term does not include the failure to provide
treatment (other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or
medication) to an infant when, in the treating physician’s
reasonable medical judgment any of the following
circumstances apply: the infant is chronically and
irreversibly comatose; the provision of the treatment would
merely prolong dying, not be effective in ameliorating or
correcting all of the infant’s life-threatening conditions, or
otherwise be futile in terms of the survival of the infant; the
provision of the treatment would be virtually futile in terms
of the survival of the infant and the treatment itself under
the circumstances would be inhumane.
Id. (emphasis added). For the purposes of this opinion, we will assume,
without deciding, substantial evidence supports DHS’s finding that Doe
committed child abuse under Iowa Code section 232.68(2)(d) for her
failure to provide for the proper supervision of her child as defined in rule
441—175.21.
6
We must also consider the statute that governs placement on the
child abuse registry providing:
2. If the alleged child abuse meets the definition of
child abuse under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph
“a” or “d”, and the department determines the injury or risk
of harm to the child was minor and isolated and is unlikely
to reoccur, the names of the child and the alleged
perpetrator of the child abuse and any other child abuse
information shall not be placed in the central registry as a
case of founded child abuse.
3. Except as otherwise provided in section 232.68,
subsection 2, paragraph “d”, regarding parents legitimately
practicing religious beliefs, the names of the child and the
alleged perpetrator and the report data and disposition data
shall be placed in the central registry as a case of founded
child abuse under any of the following circumstances:
....
f. The department determines the acts or omissions of
the alleged perpetrator meet the definition of child abuse
under section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph “d”, involving
failure to provide care necessary for the child’s health and
welfare, and any injury to the child or risk to the child’s
health and welfare was not minor or was not isolated or is
likely to reoccur, in any of the following ways:
(1) Failure to provide adequate food and nutrition.
(2) Failure to provide adequate shelter.
(3) Failure to provide adequate health care.
(4) Failure to provide adequate mental health care.
(5) Gross failure to meet emotional needs.
(6) Failure to respond to an infant’s life-threatening
condition.
Iowa Code § 232.71D(2), (3)(f).
Finally, we must consider DHS’s rule interpreting the meaning of
section 232.71D stating:
Reports of child abuse where abuse has been confirmed shall
be placed on the central abuse registry as founded child
abuse for ten years under any of the circumstances specified
by Iowa Code Supplement subsection 232.71D(3). Reports of
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denial of critical care by failure to provide adequate clothing
or failure to provide adequate supervision and physical
abuse where abuse has been confirmed and determined to
be minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur shall not be
placed in the central abuse registry as a case of founded
child abuse as specified by Iowa Code Supplement
subsections 232.71D(2) and (3). The confirmed abuse shall
be placed on the registry unless all three conditions are met.
Minor abuse shall be placed on the registry if there is a prior
confirmed abuse.
Iowa Admin. Code r. 441—175.39 (emphasis added).
II. Scope of Review.
Rule 441—175.39 is DHS’s interpretation of Iowa Code section
232.71D. DHS’s interpretation requires that it must place all confirmed
child abusers who fail to provide adequate supervision of their children
on the registry unless the abuse is determined to be minor, isolated, and
unlikely to reoccur. Id. This interpretation appears to conflict with Iowa
Code section 232.71D(3)(f). Section 232.71D(3)(f) does not list failure to
provide for the proper supervision of the child as a ground to include a
confirmed child abuser on the registry. See Iowa Code § 232.71D(3)(f)
(listing six grounds for placement on the registry).
To determine the scope of review, we must first determine whether
the legislature, by a provision of law, clearly vested DHS with the
authority to interpret Iowa Code section 232.71D. Id. § 17A.19(10)(l). If
the legislature has clearly vested DHS with the authority to interpret the
statute, we can only reverse if DHS’s interpretation is irrational, illogical,
or wholly unjustifiable. Id. On the other hand, if the legislature did not
clearly vest DHS with the authority to interpret the statute, our review is
for correction of errors at law. Id. § 17A.19(10)(c); accord Iowa Land Title
Ass’n v. Iowa Fin. Auth., 771 N.W.2d 399, 401–02 (Iowa 2009). The
legislature has not explicitly given DHS the authority to interpret section
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232.71D. Therefore, in order for us to find the legislature clearly vested
DHS with the authority to interpret the statute, we
must have a firm conviction from reviewing the precise
language of the statute, its context, the purpose of the
statute, and the practical considerations involved, that the
legislature actually intended (or would have intended had it
thought about the question) to delegate to the agency
interpretive power with the binding force of law over the
elaboration of the provision in question.
Arthur E. Bonfield, Amendments to Iowa Administrative Procedure Act,
Report on Selected Provisions to Iowa State Bar Association and Iowa
State Government 63 rptr. cmt. (1998).
The legislature has granted DHS rulemaking authority to adopt
rules and regulations necessary to carry into practice the programs of
the department. Iowa Code §§ 217.3(6), .6. The legislature has also
granted DHS the authority to “organize and staff the registry and adopt
rules for its operation.” Id. § 235A.14(1). Finally, the legislature has
explicitly granted DHS the authority to place a founded child abuse
report on the registry if the report meets the requirements of section
232.71D. From these statutes authorizing DHS to act, we must
determine if the legislature clearly vested DHS with the authority to
interpret section 232.71D.
Section 17A.19(10)(c) became effective July 1, 1999. 1998 Iowa
Acts ch. 1202, § 46. At the time section 17A.19(10)(c) became effective,
the legislature required all agencies to adopt rules regarding the
programs implemented by the agency. Iowa Code § 17A.3 (1999).
Therefore, if we were to hold the legislature’s general grant of rulemaking
authority in and of itself gives an agency interpretive powers over the
statutes it administers, we would make section 17A.19(10)(c)
superfluous. See Zimmer v. Vander Waal, 780 N.W.2d 730, 734 (Iowa
9
2010) (recognizing one of the fundamental rules of statutory
interpretation is we will not interpret a statute to make any part of it
superfluous unless no other interpretation is reasonably possible).
Consequently, we must look elsewhere to determine if the legislature
clearly vested DHS with the authority to interpret section 232.71D.
In granting DHS rulemaking authority regarding the registry, the
legislature used the following language: “organize and staff the registry
and adopt rules for its operation.” Iowa Code § 235A.14(1). “Operation”
means “performance of a practical work or of something involving the
practical application of principles or processes.” Merriam-Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionary 869 (11th ed. 2003). The practical application of
principles and processes regarding the registry requires DHS to interpret
section 232.71D when it makes rules regarding the operation of the
registry. Thus, we have a firm conviction the legislature actually
intended to delegate to DHS interpretive power with the binding force of
law over the elaboration of Iowa Code section 232.71D. Accordingly, we
will examine DHS’s interpretation of the statute to determine if its
interpretation is irrational, illogical, or wholly unjustifiable. Iowa Code
§ 17A.19(10)(l).
III. Analysis.
Rule 441—175.39 interprets section 232.71D as mandating that
abuse categorized as denial of critical care, including failure to provide
adequate supervision, must be placed on the child abuse registry unless
the abuse is minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur. Iowa Admin. Code
r. 441—175.39. Thus, this interpretation begins with a presumption
that DHS is required to place all founded reports of denial of critical care
10
child abuse on the registry unless the abuse is minor, isolated, and
unlikely to reoccur.
To determine if DHS’s interpretation of section 232.71D is
irrational, illogical, or wholly unjustifiable, we must apply our rules of
statutory interpretation. The purpose of statutory interpretation is to
determine the legislature’s intent. State v. McCoy, 618 N.W.2d 324, 325
(Iowa 2000). We give words their ordinary and common meaning by
considering the context within which they are used, absent a statutory
definition or an established meaning in the law. Midwest Auto. III, LLC v.
Iowa Dep’t of Transp., 646 N.W.2d 417, 426 (Iowa 2002). We also
consider the legislative history of a statute, including prior enactments,
when ascertaining legislative intent. State v. Allen, 708 N.W.2d 361, 366
(Iowa 2006). When we interpret a statute, we assess the statute in its
entirety, not just isolated words or phrases. Rojas v. Pine Ridge Farms,
L.L.C., 779 N.W.2d 223, 231 (Iowa 2010). We may not extend, enlarge, or
otherwise change the meaning of a statute under the guise of
construction. Auen v. Alcoholic Beverages Div., 679 N.W.2d 586, 590
(Iowa 2004).
Prior to 1997 the legislature required DHS to place all confirmed
reports of child abuse on the registry. See, e.g., Iowa Code
§§ 232.70(4)(b), (c), .71(8) (1993). On May 3, 1995, the legislature
amended chapter 232 by adding section 71A, a pilot program mandating
DHS to develop an assessment-based approach for responding to child
abuse reports. 1995 Iowa Acts ch. 147, § 5. Under this pilot program,
upon receipt of a child abuse report, DHS was required to perform an
assessment. Iowa Code § 232.71A(3) (Supp. 1995). After performing the
assessment, if DHS determined “the child suffered significant injury or
was placed in great risk of injury,” then DHS was required to place the
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founded child abuse report on the registry. Id. § 232.71A(7)(a). The pilot
program provided, “In any other case, the child abuse information in an
assessment shall not be placed in the central registry . . . .” Id.
§ 232.71A(7)(b) (emphasis added). It is clear the legislature initially
sought, at least on a pilot project basis, to limit placement on the registry
to those cases where the child suffered significant injury or was placed in
great risk of injury.
Effective July 1, 1998, the legislature expanded this assessment-
based approach statewide by adopting Iowa Code section 232.71D. 1997
Iowa Acts ch. 176, §§ 5, 43. In the legislative summary of this provision,
the legislature explained that prior to the enactment of this provision it
had “enacted provisions for utilization of an assessment-based approach
on a pilot project basis.” 1997 Summary of Legislation, Children &
Youth, H.F. 698, http://www.legis.state.ia.us/GA/77GA/Session.1/Sum
mary/chil.htm (last visited July 2, 2010). The summary explained that
unlike the past investigation-based approach, under the new
assessment-based approach, “if child abuse was determined to have
occurred, only serious cases were placed in the registry.” Id.
Furthermore, it explained that section 232.71D specified in greater detail
than the original pilot project, the criteria for placement of information
on the registry if there is a finding of child abuse. Id.
In addition, the summary described the interplay between
subsections (2) and (3) of section 232.71D. First, it explained section
232.71D(2) provides if DHS determines an incident of alleged child abuse
was minor, isolated, and unlikely to reoccur, the alleged abuser shall not
be placed on the registry. Id. The summary then explained section
232.71D(3) is based on the statutory definition of child abuse and
includes a list “of the specific incidents and determinations that would
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result in the placement of names and other child abuse information in
the central registry.” Id. Finally, the summary explained that a person
currently listed on the registry “for a circumstance that would not require
placement in the registry under the new criteria,” may request DHS to
review the case. Id. This summary evidences a legislative intent that
DHS is not required to place all founded cases of child abuse on the
registry.
Moreover, at the time the legislature enacted section 232.71D(3),
rule 441—175.21 listed eight different criteria under which a person can
be deemed a child abuser for a “denial of critical care.” One of the eight
criteria includes “failure to provide for the proper supervision of the
child.” Iowa Admin. Code r. 441—175.21 (1995). The other seven
criteria are nearly identical to the criteria contained in the present rule.
Id. However, when the legislature enacted section 232.71D(3)(f), it only
included six of those criteria for placing a person on the child abuse
registry. “Failure to provide for the proper supervision of the child” was
one of the criteria the legislature chose not to include in section
232.71D(3)(f) for placing a person on the child abuse registry. The
legislature may express its intent by the omission, as well as the
inclusion of terms. In other words, when the legislature expressly
mentions one thing, it implies the exclusion of other things not
specifically mentioned. Kucera v. Baldazo, 745 N.W.2d 481, 487 (Iowa
2008).
We conclude when the legislature failed to list “failure to provide
for the proper supervision of the child” in section 232.71D(3)(f) as a
ground for placement of a person’s name on the registry, the legislature
intended that DHS shall not place a person on the child abuse registry
13
who has failed to provide for the proper supervision of his or her child. 4
Accordingly, DHS’s interpretation of Iowa Code section 232.71D in rule
441—175.39, requiring that all “confirmed abuse shall be placed on the
registry unless all three conditions are met” is irrational, illogical, and
wholly unjustifiable because DHS’s interpretation extends, enlarges, and
otherwise changes the legislative intent of section 232.71D. Therefore,
DHS acted without authority in placing Doe on the registry contrary to
the provisions of section 232.71D(3). Consequently, even if we assume
substantial evidence supports DHS’s finding that Doe committed child
abuse under Iowa Code section 232.68(2)(d) for her failure to provide for
the proper supervision of her child as defined in rule 441—175.21, Doe’s
name should not have been placed on the child abuse registry.
IV. Disposition.
We conclude DHS should not have placed Doe on the child abuse
registry because Iowa Code section 232.71D does not permit DHS to
place on the registry a person found to have committed child abuse by
failing to provide for the proper supervision of a child, as defined in rule
441—175.21, solely for that reason. DHS and the district court erred in
holding otherwise. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the district court
upholding DHS’s decision to place Doe’s name on the registry and
remand the case to the district court, which must then return the case to
DHS and order DHS to remove Doe’s name from the registry and purge
any record that her name was on the registry.
REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
4Our decision today does not preclude the placement of a person who has failed
to provide for the proper supervision of a child on the central child abuse registry if the
requirements of another subsection of Iowa Code section 232.71D(3) have been met.