Opinion ID: 2098123
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Conduct or Conditions Seriously Detrimental to the Child

Text: As a preliminary matter, our review of the Family Court's decree reveals it to be disappointingly bereft of a finding that DCYF had made reasonable efforts    to encourage and strengthen the parental relationship, a necessary precondition of a finding of unfitness under G.L. 1956 § 15-7-7(a)(2)(i). Section 15-7-7(b)(1). Such a finding is essential for termination on the ground of conduct or conditions seriously detrimental to the child, because of imprisonment, for a duration as to render it improbable for the parent to care for the child for an extended period of time. Section 15-7-7(a)(2)(i). For this reason alone, the Family Court's finding of conduct or conditions seriously detrimental to the child is unsupportable. We also are troubled by the scant record upon which the justice came to the conclusion of unfitness. The sole witness in this proceeding was the parent whose rights DCYF sought to terminate. There was not any testimony from a DCYF case worker, nor any testimony of a case plan or the best interests of the child. Although parental rights should not be terminated solely because of conviction of a crime and the parent's subsequent incarceration, a parent's imprisonment may be considered along with other factors, which includes the probable duration of his incarceration. In re Micaela C., 769 A.2d 600, 604 (R.I.2001) (father sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole). But here there was uncontradicted testimony that Mr. Tench was to complete his current sentence at the ACI in September 2009, a mere six months after the hearing date, with a possible early release in a matter of weeks, in April 2009. [2] Accordingly, DCYF failed to offer sufficient evidence to meet its burden of proof on this ground for termination. Based on the record before us, we conclude that the Family Court justice was clearly wrong in ruling that Mr. Tench's incarceration rendered it improbable that he would be able to care for Angelina for an extended period of time.