Judge orders two children returned to mother, keeps father’s visits supervised

A Lenawee County judge ordered two children returned to their mother effective today and kept the father’s parenting time supervised, while declining to release the eldest child from the court’s jurisdiction.

The judge said, “Reunification continues to be an appropriate goal for all 3 children,” and explained that the court would not release the oldest child from jurisdiction at this time. The judge set the next review and permanency planning hearing for Nov. 17 at 10:30 a.m.

Caseworker Kristen Smith confirmed she authored the court packet before the court and described the father’s engagement with services. “Mister Davis has not engaged with me or anybody else from the agency to try and, you know, reduce these barriers,” Smith testified, summarizing the agency’s view that the father had…