C.F., MOTHER OF A.F., A.F., AND A.F., CHILDREN, APPELLANT,
v.
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, APPELLEE
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Mother C.F. appeals the trial court's order terminating her parental rights to three children, arguing the court should have ordered long-term relative placement with the children's grandmother instead. The appellate court affirmed the termination, holding that the trial court properly concluded that reunification with the mother or relative placement with the grandmother would not be in the children's best interest.
The trial court properly terminated the mother's parental rights because reunification with the mother or long-term relative placement with the grandmother would not be in the manifest best interest of the children.
“the grandmother was unable to provide, or assist the mother with providing a safe and secure home for the children”
Establishes the factual basis for why relative placement with grandmother was not viable
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe mother and grandmother lived together with the three children as a family prior to and during dependency proceedings. The grandmother was unable t…
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ORFINGER, J.
C.F., the mother, appeals the trial court’s order terminating her parental rights to A.A.F., A.M.F. and A.C.F. On appeal, the mother contends that the trial court erred by not ordering long-term relative placement with the children’s grandmother (C.F.’s mother). Having carefully considered the entire record and the findings made by the trial judge, we affirm.
The mother and grandmother, together with the children, lived as a family prior to and during the dependency proceedings. Unfortunately, the grandmother was unable to provide, or assist the mother with providing a safe and secure home for the children. While the Department of Children and Families (DCF) invested enormous resources in an effort to reunite this family, those efforts unfortunately were unsuccessful. DCF worked with both the mother and grandmother in an effort to reunite this family but for many reasons, unnecessary to detail here, the trial court concluded that reunification with the mother or long-term relative placement with the grandmother would not be in the manifest best interest of the children.
Though we have great sympathy for the mother, we are not in a position to second guess the considered judgment of the trial court. The order terminating C.F.’s parental rights is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
PALMER, C.J. and LAWSON, J., concur.