A Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court judge on review ordered that the child remain in their current placement and granted the Department of Health and Human Services discretion to expand parenting time to unsupervised visits, citing the mother’s recent engagement with services and the placement’s stability.

Madeline Latour, a foster care worker, testified she observed the child on a Zoom visit and reported age-appropriate milestones and engagement in the placement, saying, “Overall, he continues to just be a very good baby” and that the placement “is a loving home.” Latour told the court she increased parenting time to three days a week and began in-home visits to promote a natural setting while retaining one supervised office visit for monitoring.

The hearing also reviewed a positive drug screen the mother reported through her participation in sobriety court. The mother, identified in court as Miss Rose, said the initial test that flagged cocaine was sent for confirmatory lab testing and that Catholic Charities and a probation contact helped cover the $60 lab fee. On her testimony she stated, “Every test from there has been negative,” and described the sample handling process, including that the same cup was refrigerated prior to being sent off.

Mister McClellan (counsel) pressed for verification of household income and lease documentation; the mother said she had begun new employment at $13 per hour for 30 hours a week and would provide pay stubs. The worker acknowledged she had not yet received pay-stub verification and described financial stability as an outstanding concern along with the pending confirmatory test result.

Sasha Thomas, counsel for the department, asked the court to retain reunification as the primary case goal while allowing the agency discretion to expand parenting time given observed progress. Thomas requested another 90-day review; the department emphasized continued monitoring of services and recommended deeper follow-up on the psychological evaluation’s recommendations.

The judge said the court recognized the mother’s progress but emphasized the need for a sustained period of stability. The court granted the department’s request to expand unsupervised parenting time, asked for more detailed information about recommendations in the psychological evaluation—specifically medication review and potential psychiatric follow-up—and set the next review for March 10 at 09:30.

The child will remain in the current placement in the near term as the least-restrictive, safest setting while the agency monitors confirmatory lab results, engagement with recommended services and progress on psychological recommendations.