Judge continues infant in foster care, schedules permanency review after DNA excludes two named putative fathers

At a review hearing in Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court, the court continued an infant's removal from the care of Margaret Gail and set a permanency planning hearing for April 15 at 11 a.m., after the department reported DNA tests excluded two men who had been named as putative fathers.

The department's attorney, Sasha Thomas, told the court she “believe[d] that there's still substantial risk of harm to the child” if returned to the mother's care now, and asked the judge not to expand parenting time. The court found that reasonable efforts to reunify were being made and ordered the case to continue as the child remains in foster care.

Caseworker testimony and documents. A caseworker identified in the record as Miss Bosher told the court she had collected DNA from Ernest Conway and Marquis Washington and that neither man was the child's biological father. Bosher said no other named individuals were confirmed as biological fathers at that time,…