Illinois Appellate Court
Civil Court
Termination of Parental Rights
Court terminated parental rights of both parents to their 2 minor children. After 17 days of hearings, court denied petition of maternal grandparents, residents of Alaska, for custody or guardianship of the minor children, and granted petition of foster mother for custody or guardianship. DCFS failed to notify maternal grandparents that minors were in the care of DCFS, although DCFS learned of their interest one month after State filed petition for adjudication of neglect. The minors' best interests trump the grandparents' interests in maintaining their biological family. Given the highly deferential standard of review, court's order is not against manifest weight of evidence.(HARRIS and HOLDER WHITE, concurring.)