Source: http://www.massachusetts-divorce.com/cases/Adoption-of-Ilona2011.html
Timestamp: 2017-05-30 13:00:26
Document Index: 49222334

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 51', '§ 29', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 29', '§ 26', '§ 29', '§ 3', '§ 6', '§ 6']

Massachusetts Divorce Case: Adoption of Ilona - 459 Mass. 53
MA Divorce Case - Massachusetts Appellate Case - Adoption of Ilona - 459 Mass. 53
Related Case: 76 Mass. App. Ct. 481
The mother makes two arguments on appeal. [Note 5] First, while she does not dispute that she is currently unfit as a parent, she claims that there is a reasonable likelihood her unfitness would be temporary if the department provided her with adequate support services, and that the decision to terminate her parental rights before such services were provided was improper. Second, she claims that the judge abused his discretion in declining to order visitation with Ilona after finding that continued contact between them was in Ilona's best interest.
A third § 51A report was filed on December 27, 2006, after the police responded to a 911 telephone call from a neighbor who reported hearing screams and banging on the walls coming from the mother's apartment. When the police arrived, they found nine year old Ilona in shock, with redness and bruising on her face, hips, and arms. Ilona told the police that her mother had hit her with a belt because she did not eat her dinner, and disclosed a history of regular physical abuse by the mother. The mother initially denied physically abusing Ilona, but later admitted she hit her because Ilona had refused to eat her food. As a result of this incident, the mother was charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a child resulting in injury. After admitting sufficient facts for a finding of guilt as to both charges, the mother was given a continuance without a finding and placed on probation for eighteen months.
Throughout its temporary custody of Ilona, the department arranged biweekly visits between Ilona and her mother, supervised by a department social worker. The social worker observed that, during most of the visits at the mother's apartment in early 2007, the mother did not initiate any conversation or express any interest in Ilona's life, but instead watched television, cooked, or cleaned. Ilona asked her mother's permission for everything she did during a visit, including using the bathroom and getting food. When the mother prepared food for her, Ilona would eat what she was given but never ask for more, even when she was hungry, because she feared her mother's reaction. The social worker worked with the mother in order to increase her interaction with Ilona and improve her responsiveness to the child during these visits. [Note 8]
By August 14, 2007, however, the department had changed its goal for Ilona from reunification to adoption. [Note 9] At a permanency hearing held on November 29, 2007, in accordance with G. L. c. 119, § 29B, a judge (who was not the trial judge) determined that the department's "efforts to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan for the child, other than reunification, were reasonable." Two Juvenile Court clinicians issued reports that were considered by the trial judge. In a report dated June 20, 2007, a clinician who had twice interviewed the mother concluded that she had a cognitive impairment, with over-all intellectual ability in the low range. While he did not make a parenting evaluation, he noted that parents with her cognitive limitations "often experience significant difficulty in adequately caring for a child, especially as the child becomes older and the developing needs of the child become more complex."
Ilona told social workers that she wanted to be adopted by her foster family, but that she still loves her mother and wants to continue seeing her. Her foster mother, who is "very warm and nurturing," supports continued contact between Ilona and her mother, and would continue to allow such contact as long as it did not hurt Ilona.
Because termination of a parent's rights is an "extreme step," Adoption of Carlos, 31 Mass. App. Ct. 233 , 239 (1991), S.C., 413 Mass. 339 (1992), a judge must decide both whether the parent is currently unfit and whether, "on the basis of credible evidence, there is a reasonable likelihood that the parent's unfitness at the time of trial may be only temporary." Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. at 350, and cases cited. A judge may consider evidence that provides a "reason to believe that a parent will correct a condition or weakness that currently disables the parent from serving his or her child's best interests." Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. at 350. However, a judge's conclusion that a parent's unfitness is temporary must rest on credible evidence supporting a reasonable likelihood that the parent will become fit, not on a "faint hope." Adoption of Inez, supra at 723. Even where a parent has participated in programs and services and demonstrated some improvement, we rely on the trial judge to weigh the evidence in order to determine whether there is a sufficient likelihood that the parent's unfitness is temporary. See, e.g., Adoption of Paula, 420 Mass. 716 , 729 (1995); Custody of Two Minors, 396 Mass. 610 , 620-621 (1986) ("court is permitted to assess prognostic evidence derived from prior patterns of parental neglect or misconduct in determining future fitness and the likelihood of harm to the child"). Because childhood is fleeting, a parent's unfitness is not temporary if it is reasonably likely to continue for a prolonged or indeterminate period. See Adoption of Elena, 446 Mass. 24 , 31-32 (2006). See also Adoption of Inez, supra at 724, quoting Adoption of Carlos, 31 Mass. App. Ct. at 242 ("At some point the court must say, 'Enough,' . . . and act in the children's best interests").
Before seeking to terminate parental rights, the department must make "reasonable efforts" aimed at restoring the child to the care of the natural parents. Adoption of Lenore, 55 Mass. App. Ct. 275 , 278 (2002). See Petition of the Dep't of Pub. Welfare to Dispense with Consent to Adoption, 376 Mass. 252 , 266 (1978) ("State is required to make every effort to strengthen and encourage family life before it may proceed with plans to sever family ties permanently"). General Laws c. 119, § 1, declares it to be the "policy of this commonwealth to direct its efforts, first, to the strengthening and encouragement of family life for the care and protection of children; to assist and encourage the use by any family of all available resources to this end; and to provide substitute care of children only when the family itself or the resources available to the family are unable to provide the necessary care and protection to insure the rights of any child to sound health and normal physical, mental, spiritual and moral development." [Note 10] Where a parent, as here, has cognitive or other limitations that affect the receipt of services, the department's duty to make reasonable efforts to preserve the natural family includes a requirement that the department provide services that accommodate the special needs of a parent. See Adoption of Gregory, 434 Mass. 117 , 122 (2001). See also 110 Code Mass. Regs. §§ 1.08, 1.09 (2008). The department must "match services with needs, and the trial judge must be vigilant to ensure that it does so." Adoption of Lenore, supra at 279 n.3. [Note 11]
When committing a child to the custody of the department or terminating parental rights, a judge must determine whether the department has complied with its duty to make "reasonable efforts . . . to prevent or eliminate the need for removal from the home." G. L. c. 119, § 29C. See G. L. c. 119, § 26. [Note 12] A judge may consider the department's failure to make reasonable efforts in deciding whether a parent's unfitness is merely temporary. See Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. at 350. However, even where the department has failed to meet this obligation, a trial judge must still rule in the child's best interest. "A determination by the court that reasonable efforts were not made shall not preclude the court from making any appropriate order conducive to the child's best interest." G. L. c. 119, § 29C. See Petition of the Dep't of Pub. Welfare to Dispense with Consent to Adoption, supra at 268-269, citing G. L. c. 210, § 3. While courts protect the rights of parents, "the parents' rights are secondary to the child's best interests and . . . the proper focus of termination proceedings is the welfare of the child." Adoption of Gregory, supra at 121. See Adoption of Inez, 428 Mass. 717 , 720 (1999), quoting Care & Protection of Robert, 408 Mass. 52 , 62 (1990) ("While parents have a constitutionally recognized interest in maintaining the family unit, a 'child's interest in freedom from neglect or abuse is absolute' "). See also Custody of a Minor, 375 Mass. 733 , 749 (1978) (best interest of child paramount consideration where child's well-being at issue).
As to the first question, a judge should consider, among other factors, whether there is "a significant, existing bond with the biological parent" whose rights have been terminated. Adoption of Vito, supra at 563. A judge may also take into account whether a preadoptive family has been identified and, if so, whether the child "has formed strong, nurturing bonds" with that family. Id. See Adoption of Rico, supra at 754.
Adoptive parents have the same protected interest in their relationship with the adoptive child as biological parents, and are entitled to the same presumption they will act in the best interest of the child in making decisions regarding the child, including decisions about visitation. See Adoption of Vito, supra at 562; Blixt v. Blixt, supra; G. L. c. 210, § 6 (with exceptions not relevant here, in adoption, "all rights, duties and other legal consequences of the natural relation of child and parent shall thereafter exist" between child and adoptive parent, and shall terminate between child and natural parents); G. L. c. 210, § 6E (noting "right of an adoptive parent to make decisions on behalf of his child"). See also Adoption of Lenore, 55 Mass. App. Ct. 275 , 284 (2002) (adoptive parents will be in best position to determine whether visits with child's biological parents will be in child's best interests); Adoption of Gwendolyn, 29 Mass. App. Ct. 130 , 139 (1990) (same). Therefore, once a preadoptive family has been identified, a judge must balance the benefit to the child of an order of visitation that will provide assurance that the child will be able to maintain contact with a biological parent, with the intrusion that an order imposes on the rights of the adoptive parents, who are entitled to the presumption that they will act in their child's best interest. Cf. Blixt v. Blixt, supra. [Note 14] A judge should issue an order of visitation only if such an order, on balance, is necessary to protect the child's best interest. See Adoption of Rico, supra at 757; Blixt v. Blixt, supra. [Note 15]
The Appeals Court apparently interpreted our decision in Adoption of Rico, supra, to mean that a judge abuses his discretion whenever he finds that visitation is in the child's best interest but fails to order it. See Adoption of Ilona, supra at 488. We now clarify that Adoption of Rico, supra, merely held that the judge's failure to issue an order of visitation constituted an abuse of discretion in the circumstances of that case, where a nine year old child who had lived in four different foster homes during the previous six years, had just lost his placement with a preadoptive family, and had no placement with a family willing to adopt him. Id. at 755. Although Rico's father was unfit, the relationship between Rico and his father was the principal parent-child relationship in his life, and they had formed a strong bond. Id. at 754-755. The judge found that contact between Rico and his father was in the child's best interest and should continue. Id. at 752. Although the department -- in whose custody Rico remained -- recognized the importance of visitation with the father, we found that a judicial order would give the child greater assurance that he would be able to preserve the one meaningful parent-child relationship in his life. Id. at 755-757. We concluded, in those circumstances, that it was an abuse of discretion to fail to give the child that assurance. [Note 16] Id. at 753, 759. Therefore, Adoption of Rico, supra, did not establish the principle that a judge must order visitation whenever the judge concludes that visitation is currently in the child's best interest. Rather, it applied to the facts of that case the language in Adoption of Vito, supra at 560, 563, where we noted that "a judicial order of postadoption contact may be warranted where the evidence readily points to significant, existing bonds between the child and a biological parent," and that the court's equitable authority to order visitation "may be especially important in safeguarding the child's best interests" in cases where no preadoptive parent has been identified.
[Note 16] While an order may provide a child with assurance that visitation will continue, we have recognized that visitation orders are subject to modification, and that an order of visitation will be reviewed at the time of adoption to determine whether it continues to serve the child's best interest. See Adoption of Rico, 453 Mass. 749 , 758-759 & n.17 (2009); Adoption of Vito, 431 Mass. 550 , 557-558 n.15 (2000). More cases
Massachusetts Appellate Case - Adoption of Ilona - 459 Mass. 53