IN RE: Chantey D. (2010)

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

On September 23, 2010, DCF filed a Motion to Review its proposed Permanency Plan for Children requesting that Father's Plan be Termination of Parental rights.   Father is currently incarcerated on drug charges with anticipated release sometime between April 2011 and April 2012.   He has had monthly visitation with the Children, who have been cared for in a pre-adoptive foster home for the past two years.

The Permanency Plan is just a plan that expresses the decision of DCF to seek such termination and does not constitute a final decision.   The plan should be received as fair warning not an accomplished fact.   If Father is released at the earliest date he will have full opportunity to work on his Court ordered specific steps in an effort to be reunited with his Children.   When Children have been in foster care for an extended time and have formed bonds with prospective adoptive family, DCF must recognize both the opportunity for permanency and the speculative reality of Father's full recovery and ability to meet his obligations to parole and support of his two children.

Father's record with his court ordered specific steps has been spotty.  (See Exhibit A Specific Steps on pps 5 and 6).   He established that he is committed to his children and met many of DCF's requirements prior to his incarceration;  however, the problems presented by his relapse and criminal behavior suggest that the Children have not been the primary focus of his life.   The Court accepts, approves and adopts the permanency plan as proposed and finds that DCF has made reasonable efforts to implement the plan.

Hon. Thayer Baldwin, Jr., JTR

Baldwin, Thayer, J.