Opinion ID: 2011438
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Court's Alleged Failure to Consider the Best Interests of the Child.

Text: The GAL contends that the trial judge abused her discretion by failing to consider the best interests of the child. The judge indicated that she did consider S.C.M.'s interests, and we take her at her word. In child neglect cases, as in all proceedings affecting the future of a minor, the decisive consideration is the best interests of the child. In re S.G., 581 A.2d 771, 785 (D.C.1990). [A] child's best interests are presumptively served by being with a parent, provided that the parent is not unfit. Id.; see also L.W., supra, 613 A.2d at 355-56. The trial judge stated during the course of the hearing that our system has as its goal certainly the best interests of the child but also . . . permanency and family reunification. This statement, in our view, effectively capsulizes the relevant considerations, and we have no reason to believe that the judge failed adequately to consider S.C.M.'s welfare. It is important to note here that no party was requesting termination of the mother's parental rights, and no petition to adopt S.C.M. was pending. Insofar as a possible permanent solution was concerned, reunification was the only available option. Protracted retention in temporary foster care is generally not in a child's interest. See, e.g., Smith v. Organization of Foster Families, 431 U.S. 816, 835-36 & n. 37, 97 S.Ct. 2094, 2105 & n. 37, 53 L.Ed.2d 14 (1977) (citations omitted). [12]