# Conant v. Maine Dep't of Health and Human Svs. > Superior Court of Maine · September 19, 2007 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10808832 ## Case - **Court:** Superior Court of Maine - **Decided:** September 19, 2007 - **Precedential status:** Unpublished - **Opinion:** Opinion - **Judges:** Donald H. Marden - **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10808832 ## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction) - noting that the Court recognizes no distinction between the clearly erroneous and substantial evidence in the record standards of review for factual determinations made by administrative agencies ## Opinion text STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION KENNEBEC ss. DOCKET NO. AP-~7-97 nilN "CAl ~J'-., . .)_.., ....Y rl 1 _. ~\ \.> IV - , i i -1, "," () l ;; I ' ELAINE CONANT o/b/ 0 TIMOTHY CONANT, Petitioner v. DECISION AND ORDER MAINE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Respondent JAN 24. ZOOB Petitioner, Elaine Conant ("petitioner"), on behalf of her adult son Timothy Conant, has petitioned for judicial review pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. Rule 80C of the Department of Health and Human Services' ("DHHS" or "respondent") final decision. Petitioner has also moved to supplement the record pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. Rule 80C(f) and 5 M.R.S.A. § 1l006(1)(B). The Commissioner of the DHHS issued a final decision on December 14, 2006 finding that there was a lack of convincing evidence that Timothy Conant was eligible for adult mental retardation services. Timothy Conant is a 30-year-old man currently living in a street shelter in Portland. He obtains services from a social worker/mental health case manager. He was adopted at the age of 15 months by the petitioner. He was born prematurely, had hypoxia, and had multiple medical issues, including bronchopulmonary dysplasia and glaucoma. When he was discharged from the hospital at the age of 15 months, he still could not hold his head up and had a gastronomy tube. He had brain damage that delayed developmental milestones, and was in special education classes from early elementary school. At age 11, he was evaluated by the Developmental Evaluation 1 Clinic at Boston Children's hospital. His Verbal IQ was 86, his Performance IQ was 93, and Full Scale IQ was 89. The evaluation concluded that he was of Low Average Intellectual Potential with mild, but specific learning disabilities. Despite special education, Timothy had a "horrendous" year in 5 th grade, his mother thus home schooled him for grades 6-9. He then entered vocational track in high schoot graduating in 1996. After High Schoot Timothy who is legally blind, received support from the Bureau for the Blind and Visually impaired. Conant has had a number of jobs, and has generally been able to meet the task requirements but has had difficulties with social interactions, both with supervisors and with fellow workers. He can show up for work on time, take an appropriate lunch hour, return willingly after lunch, and do the work at hand, but engages in disputes about leaving early, refusal to do work, and his entitlement to a higher wage. Elaine Conant contends that Timothy seems oblivious to social norms, never thinks to ask about family members, use appropriate words of congratulations or empathy. Timothy is however able to participate in church social groups and activities, with some accommodations. Timothy displays some difficulties in understanding the proper interactions with girls and women. When he was 17 or 18, Timothy sent notes to 3 different girls in his church youth group professing his love for them. He has been engaged in sexual activities in situations revealing poor judgment including a situation in which he was involved in the legal system for unlawful sexual contact with a minor. In 1998, when Timothy was almost 21, he was again evaluated. His Full Scale IQ was 78, Verbal IQ was 80, and performance IQ was 79. Timothy was reading at a 6th grade level and had math skills at a 4 th grade level. His adaptive living skills were in the first percentile. The evaluating doctor concluded that Timothy had a depressive disorder, learning disability and would benefit from having a guardian. Timothy was 2 evaluated again in April of 2003 revealing similarly low IQ scores and was enrolled in a group home in Wisconsin but was discharged after 7 months, because of "repeated violations of rules and policies generally concerning interactions between male and female clients." Timothy was again evaluated on October 2005 by a Dr. ZeIlinger whose evaluation demonstrated functioning in the Borderline Range of Intelligence. Timothy's cognitive skills were at a higher level than his adaptive behavior skills. On the General Adaptive Composite, Timothy scored a 62, an essentially similar result to his previous evaluations. Dr. Zellinger concluded that Timothy's social, emotional, and verbal difficulties were compatible with a diagnosis of Pervasive Developmental Disorder. Based on its evaluation of the record and evaluations done by experienced medical professionals, DHHS concluded that there was not convincing evidence that Timothy met criteria for pervasive developmental disorder or that he had deficits in Adaptive Functioning more than two standard deviations below the mean in the developmental period. Petitioner has brought both this appeal and a motion to supplement the record because it believes that the record as it currently exists is inadequate to allow for meaningful judicial review and would have this court remand the case to DHHS for further review. When the decision of an administrative agency is appealed pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80C, this Court reviews the agency's decision directly for abuse of discretion, errors of law, or findings not supported by the evidence. Centamore v. Dep't of Human Services, 664 A.2d 369, 370 (Me. 1995). "An administrative decision will be sustained if, on the basis of the entire record before it, the agency could have fairly and reasonably found the facts as it did." Seider v. Board of Exam'r of Psychologists, 2000 ME 206 L7'--- ~ _ County Action _----.lP~e:::...t....i.L_t....i..LoLl.nU_..Lf.uo..Lr____"'R.r:e'_>lvJ;...<:e""wl___ _ 80C Elaine Conant abo Timothv Conant YS. Maine Denartment of Health & Human ServiCE Plaintiff's Attorney Defendant's Attorney Thomas H. Kelley, Esq. Nancy Macirowski, AAG 88 Federal Street 6 State House Station P.O. Box 547 Augusta, ME 04333-0006 Portland, Maine 04112 Date of Entry 1/16/07 Petition for Review of Adminstrative Action, filed. s/Kelley, Esq. 1/30/07 Letter entering appearance, filed. s/Macirowski, AAG 2/9/07 Affidavit Re: Service of Process, and two certified mail receip~s(unsigned), filed 2/8/07. s/Kelley, Esq. 2/15/07 Motion To Extend Time For Filing Of Record, filed. s/Macirowski, AAG Proposed Order, filed. 2/15/07 Request For Hearing, filed. s/Macirowski, AAG 2/16/07 ORDER, Marden, J. Upon Motion of Respondent, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, it is hereby ORDERED that Respondent's Motion to Extend Time for Filing of Record is hereby GRANTED and that the schedule of further proceedings, including filings by the parties, it hereby extended for four weeks, such that the filing date of the record in this case shall be due no later than March 15, 2007. The Clerk shall incorporate this Order on the Docket by reference. SO ORDERED. Copies mailed to attys. of record. 3/15/07 Certified Record, filed. s/Macirowski, AAG. Notice of briefing schedule mailed to attys of record. 4/17/07 Motion for Leave to Extend Briefing Schedule. filed. s/Kelley. Esq. Proposed Order, filed. 4/19/07 ORDER ON MOTION TO EXTEND, Marden, J. The petitioner's brief shall be due on May 18, 2007. Copies mailed to attys of record. 5/18/07 Brief of Petitioner. filed. s/Kelley, Esq. Motion to Supplement the Record. filed. s/Kelley, Esq. Affidavit of Elaine Conant. filed. s/Conant a/Kelley, Esq. Affidavit of Arthur P. Clum, filed. a/Conant s/Kelley, Esq. Date of Entry Docket No. 6/8/07 DHHS'S Opposition to Motion to Supplement the Record, filed. s/ Macirowski, AAG 6/15/07 Brief of Respondent, filed. s/Macirowski, Esq. Certificate of Service, filed. s/Macirowski, Esq. 6/21/07 Petitioner's Reply Brief, filed 6/20/07. s/Kelley, Esq. Notice of sEiwng fOt_,..q ........I_S'---.~_D_1_._(l_. ~ent to attorneys of record. 9/6/07 Oral arguments held on 9/5/07 with the Hon. Justice Donald Marden, presiding. No courtroom clerk Thomas Kelley, Esq. for the Petitioner and Nancy Macirowski, AAG for thl' Respondent. Court to take matter under advisement. 9/19/07 DECISION AND ORDER, Marden, J. Peti tioner' s motion to supplement the record is DENIED; 'the final agenc:l action of DHHS is AFFIRMED. Copies to attys. of record. Copies to DOJlald: GOBS, Deborah Firestone and,'Garbrecht Law Library --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/10808832. Public record. Not legal advice.