Judge keeps child with kin, orders virtual and in-person visits to resume for Lazarus Richardson

A judge in the High Plains Child Protection Court continued the Department as permanent managing conservator and ordered both virtual and in-person visits to resume for 2‑year‑old Lazarius (Lazarus) Richardson, during a permanency review conducted by Zoom on a finding of good cause.

The judge said the Department would remain the child’s permanent managing conservator and the child’s current placement would continue. The judge set the next permanency review for December and told the parties the court expects substantial progress toward reunification by that time.

The court’s action came after testimony from Sylvia Garcia, the Saint Francis permanency specialist assigned to the case, who reported that the child “is doing very well in placement” and that placement staff were working to enroll him in daycare or a Region 16 early pre‑K program to improve socialization. Garcia said the child’s placement is meeting his needs and that staff were arranging visitation plans with both parents and siblings.

Lorraine Lucero, attorney for the father, questioned why virtual visits had not started sooner because, she said, the father had completed required services under the mediated…