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Appeals court reviews termination of father's parental rights; counsel debate best‑interest findings and legal effects
Summary
The Appeals Court considered Nov. 7 whether a trial judge’s findings adequately supported termination of a father’s parental rights, with the child’s counsel arguing the record lacks specific benefits to the child and DCF contending the father’s prolonged absence justified removal of legal impediments to permanency.
On Nov. 7 the Appeals Court heard argument in Department of Children & Families v. Child (2025P0202), a contest over whether a trial judge’s findings supported termination of a father’s parental rights and whether those findings adequately addressed the child’s best interest.
Appellate counsel for the child argued the trial judge did not identify concrete benefits to the child from termination, and in some places the judge misstated legal consequences — for example suggesting incorrectly that…
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