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Appeals Court hears challenge to DCF practice for incarcerated parents; counsel urges court to require proof of "reasonable efforts" before adoption notices
Summary
In an impounded termination-of-parental-rights appeal, the father's attorney urged the Massachusetts Appeals Court to require the Department of Children and Families to show it made "reasonable and/or special efforts" to serve incarcerated parents before a notice to dispense with parental consent may proceed; DCF countered that the father refused to cooperate and the trial court's reasonableness finding was supported by the record. Case submitted for decision.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard argument in an impounded termination-of-parental-rights appeal in which the father's lawyer asked the panel to require the Department of Children and Families to show it made "reasonable and/or special efforts" to serve incarcerated parents before a court will entertain a notice of intent to dispense with parental consent to adoption.
"We propose that this court require the department to show and the court to find that it has made reasonable and/or special efforts before it will entertain a notice of intent to dispense with parental consent to adoption," attorney Laura Loe told the three-justice panel. Loe said there is no binding precedent enforcing 110 CMR 110's special provisions for incarcerated parents and argued DCF repeatedly failed to adapt service plans for a father who remained incarcerated for more than two years while court…
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