Judge Orders Department to Seek Termination, Changes Permanency Goal to Adoption

A judge in the Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court ordered the Department of Social Services on the record to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child’s mother and changed the child’s permanency goal to adoption, the court said near the close of a permanency review hearing. The judge set the next permanency planning hearing for April 21 at 2:30 p.m., and directed staff to prepare release documents for the child’s father.

The Department’s caseworker, Francesca Madrid, told the court, “We are asking for the goal to be changed to adoption.” Madrid said the child is placed with a foster family that is willing to provide permanency through adoption and that the child is doing well in that home.

The court’s action followed testimony from the child’s guardian ad litem, Carson Howlett, who described a December 20, 2024, office visit in which the child appeared bonded to the foster family, was engaged in school activities and was being monitored for seizures. Howlett told the court the foster parents “demonstrated a deep understanding of the child’s needs,” including awareness of seizure signs and open communication with medical providers.

Francesca Madrid reported the mother, Carla Collier, has not complied with her case plan during the review period: Madrid said Collier was discharged from individual therapy and a family assistance program for lack of communication and attendance, lost employment, had not secured safe, stable housing and had stopped communicating with the agency. Madrid said the department had attempted face-to-face contacts and offered transportation assistance and bus tokens, but that Collier had not provided a reliable address.

Michael Brooks, attorney for the child’s father, asked about facilitating a voluntary release of parental rights. The father, Sean Thomas, confirmed he intends to release his parental rights and said he had received the proposed petition and would review and attempt to sign it electronically: “Yes. I’ll take a look at it today, and if I’m able to do an electronic signature, I’ll get it signed and have it sent to you and Miss Madrid,” he said.

Tribal representation at the hearing confirmed the child is enrolled in the tribe. The tribal representative, Mr. Washington, told the court he would forward documentation of the child’s enrollment to the department. The court and counsel discussed preserving the child’s ties to her Native heritage; Madrid said she had sent eligibility paperwork, the child’s birth certificate and Social Security card to a tribal administrator in August and resent them in November but had not yet received a substantive response from the tribe about eligibility status.

The judge summarized the department’s efforts and the child’s current condition, noting the child had been removed from the mother’s care on Sept. 1, 2023, had special medical needs including seizures, and had been underweight at removal. The judge said active efforts had been made by the department, the foster placement and the tribe, and concluded the change of goal to adoption and filing a termination petition “serves the best interest of the child at this point in time.”

On the record, the court received the department’s court report and attachments into evidence after counsel moved their admission and no party objected. The judge specifically directed the department to file the termination petition and to prepare release documents for the father, and scheduled a review and potential termination hearing for April 21 at 2:30 p.m., contingent on timely filing and service of the petition.