Supreme Court of Illinois

The nine-month evaluation period for assessing whether a given parent is "unfit" applies to both the reasonable-efforts ground and the reasonable-progress ground set forth in Adoption Act section 1(D)(m). The date on which to begin assessing a parent's efforts or progress is the date the trial court enters its order adjudging the minor neglected, abused, or dependent, not the date that the dispositional order is entered.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/18/2003
• Published 12/18/2003

Judges

• Justice FITZGERALD delivered the opinion of the court:

Court

• Supreme Court of Illinois

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Rita A. Fry and Edwin A. Burnette, Public Defenders, Chicago (Karen Margaret Florek, Assistant Public Defender, of counsel), for appellant., Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, and Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Linda D. Woloshin, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, and Renee Goldfarb, Nancy Grauer Kisicki and Peter Maltese, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.


• For Appellees:
  
• Patrick T. Murphy, Charles P. Golbert and Kass A. Plain, of the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian, Chicago (Amy Halbrook, law student), for appellee minors.