In re A.J.

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Mother gave birth to a child while serving a prison sentence. Crawford County Department of Job and Family Services (the Agency) filed a complaint requesting permanent custody of the child. The juvenile court terminated Mother’s parental rights to the child and granted permanent custody to the Agency. Mother appealed, arguing that the Agency did not make a good-faith effort to reunify her with child because the child could have been placed with a relative as a substitute caregiver when the Agency had temporary custody of the child. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the testimony presented at the permanent-custody hearing provided an appropriate basis for rejecting the relative as a relative caregiver. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in not finding error in the Agency’s decision to deny the relative at issue as a substitute caregiver. View "In re A.J." on Justia Law