IN RE: JOSEPHINE E. M. C. - Articles

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IN RE: JOSEPHINE E. M. C.

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Apr 17, 2014

Court: TN Court of Appeals

Attorneys 1:

Rolfe A. Straussfogel, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, J. C.

Attorneys 2:

Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter, Martha A. Campbell, Deputy Attorney General, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellee, State of Tennessee Department of Children’s Services

Robert L. Huddleston, Maryville, Tennessee, Guardian Ad Litem for Josephine E. M. C.

Judge(s): HIGHERS

This appeal involves the termination of a mother’s parental rights to her young daughter. The trial court terminated the mother’s parental rights based upon four separate grounds: substantial noncompliance with a permanency plan; abandonment by willful failure to visit; abandonment by failure to provide a suitable home; and persistent conditions. We find that DCS failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that it made reasonable efforts to reunify the mother and her child, and we reverse the trial court’s finding that grounds for termination were proven by clear and convincing evidence. This matter is remanded for such further proceedings as may be necessary.

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