Child Law

Respondent appealed from orders of the circuit court finding her minor son neglected due to a lack of care and injurious environment, adjudicating him as a ward of the court, and finding that respondent was unable to care for, protect, train, or discipline the minor child. Respondent argued that the State presented insufficient evidence of neglect, relying entirely on the minor’s medical records, and that the trial court erred in finding it was in the minor’s best interests to be placed in temporary custody. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the trial court’s findings were not against the manifest weight of the evidence or an abuse of discretion where the evidence indicated that respondent was unable to provide the recommended level of medical care for her minor child and where respondent had not completed necessary services and had refused to cooperate with DCFS. (ROCHFORD and OCASIO, concurring)

In a neglect case under the Juvenile Court Act involving a child eligible for tribe membership, the appellate court considered whether compliance with the qualified expert witness provision of the Indian Child Welfare Act was required prior to any foster care placement. The appellate court concluded that compliance was required and reversed a contrary dispositional order entered by the trial court and remanded for an ICWA-compliant dispositional hearing. (ROCHFORD and REYES, concurring)

Respondent appealed from the circuit court’s termination of her parental rights with respect to her minor son, challenging the court’s finding of unfitness. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the trial court did not err where the evidence established that respondent did not make reasonable progress toward reunification and did not correct the conditions that brought the child into care, including participation in treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues. (ELLIS and D.B. WALKER, concurring)

Respondent appealed from the trial court’s termination of her parental rights, arguing that the trial court’s unfitness and best interest findings were against the manifest weight of the evidence. The appellate court affirmed, finding that the rulings were not against the weight of the evidence where respondent made little progress during the nine-month period after the adjudication of abuse or neglect and where the best interest factors favored termination of respondent’s parental rights so that the minor child could be adopted by his foster parents, especially where the foster parents testified they intended to maintain contact with respondent. (McBRIDE and ELLIS, concurring)

Respondent appealed from a circuit court order terminating her parental rights arguing that the trial court erred when it engaged in sua sponte questioning of witnesses during the termination and best interests hearing and that the trial court erred when it granted the State’s motion in limine that permitted it to elicit testimony from respondent’s domestic violence counselor. The appellate court found no error and affirmed. (FITZGERALD SMITH and LAVIN, concurring)