In re Welfare of the Child of D.L.D.
Minnesota Court of Appeals
771 N.W.2d 538 (2009)
- Written by Meredith Hamilton Alley, JD
Facts
Between 1995 and 2007, a mother and father lost their parental rights to four children because of the mother’s mental illness and addictions and the father’s abuse. The mother became pregnant with S.M.H. around December 2007. The father was involved in a crime in March 2008 and was in jail when S.M.H. was born on August 29, 2008. The county health department filed for termination of parental rights (TPR) for both the mother and the father on September 2, 2008, on the statutory grounds that the mother and father had lost their parental rights to other children. While the matter was ongoing, the mother and father visited S.M.H. weekly. The mother and father sought parenting classes and counseling from an agency, but services were denied because the agency had provided its services to the mother and father in the past, there was no reunification plan, and S.M.H. was not in the custody of the mother and father. At trial, a social worker testified that there were no services that would cause the mother and father to become safe parents for S.M.H. The trial court found that the mother and father’s interest in improving their parenting was only superficial and that nothing had changed since the 2007 TPR trial. Without finding that termination was in the best interests of the child, the trial court entered an order terminating the parental rights of the mother and father. The mother and father appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Larkin, J.)
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