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P.G. v. State6/30/2000
on.
Billy encountered difficulty at school throughout the ensuing year. In April 1991 a special services teacher wrote that Billy "has psychological needs that are not being met at this time," was not making satisfactory progress in school despite the school's attempts to meet his needs, and would benefit from outside counseling.
DFYS first became involved with Billy in April, after he and his older brother contacted the agency and asked to be placed in a foster home. The boys told a DFYS social worker that their father "has kicked hit [Billy] in the past," "smokes pot all day" and "is moody unpredictable when high," and offered marijuana to them. The boys went to the home of an aunt -- their father's sister -- who confirmed that Billy's father abused his children; she indicated that she did not want them to return to his home.
A few days later, DFYS caseworker Pam McDermott interviewed Billy's father, who denied any abuse. Billy's father told McDermott that Billy was "street wise" and had come to Alaska with a cigarette addiction. Billy's father also informed McDermott that a school psychologist had evaluated Billy and that Billy had seen Dr. Dinius. Afraid that Billy would be defiant and would not cooperate, his father initially told McDermott that he did not want Billy back. McDermott also interviewed Billy that day and found him "very uncooperative, defiant, negative, sneering." After concluding that Billy would be safe with his father and securing his father's agreement to take him back, McDermott allowed Billy to return home.
Billy subsequently became involved in two school-related fighting incidents with girls in which he pulled down the pants of -- or "pantsed" -- his opponents. On each occasion, Billy was suspended from school for his behavior. The second incident occurred on October 31, 1991. While being questioned in the school office about the pantsing, Billy told school officials that he did not want to return home because, according to the caseworker's report, "he won[']t live in that kind of place anymore." The school contacted DFYS, which took emergency custody and placed Billy in a temporary foster home. His temporary foster father, Tom Musgrove, evidently knew that Billy had psychological and behavioral problems and was aware that the school psychologist, Harrison, had evaluated Billy; on November 8, 1991, Musgrove talked to McDermott about these issues, recommending that DFYS speak with Harrison about Billy's progress.
Several days later, DFYS gave custody of Billy to the Greens. Their involvement resulted from a telephone call by Penny's mother to a DFYS office to inquire about becoming a foster parent. DFYS caseworker Lela McNutt told Penny's mother about Billy's situation. According to Penny's mother, McNutt "played on my heartstrings," offering her custody of Billy and saying that he was being abused by his father, had recently been placed in a temporary foster home, and urgently needed a more permanent placement. Penny's mother demurred, telling McNutt that her current living quarters were too small to accommodate a foster child and that she was planning to buy a larger home. But that night, at dinner, Penny's mother told Penny and Richard about her conversation with McNutt and described Billy's plight. The Greens decided that they might be able to take Billy.
Penny and her mother went to the DFYS office on November 11, 1991, for what Penny expected would be an initial consultation. But upon meeting with McNutt, they found that she was ready to arrange the foster placement immediately, telling Penny and her mother that Billy "was a really good kid, had never been in trouble before, had never been in a foster home
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