Opinion
Case No. 20070947-CA.
Filed January 31, 2008. Not for Official Publication
Appeal from the Seventh District Juvenile, Monticello Department, 170258 The Honorable Mary L. Manley.
Joyce G. Smith, Blanding, for Appellant.
Mark L. Shurtleff and John M. Peterson, Salt Lake City, for Appellee
Martha Pierce and Mandie Torgerson, Salt Lake City, Guardians Ad Litem.
Before Judges Thorne, Bench, and Orme.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
A.D.T. (Mother) appeals from the juvenile court's order from a permanency hearing. Because the order is not a final and appealable order, we lack jurisdiction and must dismiss this appeal.
Mother also appealed the order from the adjudication, filed December 5, 2007. That appeal, case number 20070978-CA, is a separate appeal and is not affected by this decision.
Appeals may be taken from final orders and judgments. See Utah R. App. P. 3(a). For a juvenile court order to be appealable, the order must "end the current juvenile proceedings, leaving no question open for further judicial action." In re A.F., 2007 UT 69, ¶ 3, 167 P.3d 1070. "In the child welfare arena, the determining factor in deciding if an order is final and appealable is whether it effects a change in the permanent status of the child." Id. Accordingly, an order from a permanency hearing is appealable only "if it effects a change in the status of the child."Id. ¶ 4.
The November 13, 2007 order appealed here is not a final order subject to appeal. The order did not change the legal status of the children, nor did it permanently affect Mother's residual rights. Instead, the order only "reorient[ed] the focus of the remaining proceedings toward" an identified permanency goal. Id. ¶ 7. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal.
Dismissed.
William A. Thorne Jr., Associate Presiding, Russell W. Bench, Gregory K. Orme, Judge.