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Appeals court weighs termination of parental rights after judge found mother's chronic mental-health crises put children at risk
Summary
The appeals court on Wednesday considered whether a juvenile court properly terminated a mother's parental rights after repeated psychiatric hospitalizations that the judge concluded left her unable to provide stable care.
The appeals court on Wednesday reviewed a juvenile-court termination-of-parental-rights judgment in Department of Children and Families v. Mother, focusing on whether the trial judge properly relied on evidence of repeated psychiatric hospitalizations and current risk to determine that termination was necessary for the children's safety.
Tamika O'Brien, counsel for the mother, argued the judge substituted history for current unfitness and should have considered less-restrictive alternatives such as guardianship. She noted that by early 2023 the mother had stable housing, compliance with medication, a year of stability…
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