AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The case involves the termination of the parental rights of the mother to her child, Samarah V.-R. The Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD) removed the child from the mother's care and subsequently sought to terminate her parental rights due to concerns that were not specified in the decision.

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Petitioner-Appellee (CYFD): Argued that they had made reasonable efforts to assist the mother in remedying the causes and conditions that resulted in the child's removal.
• Respondent-Appellant (Mother): Challenged the sufficiency of the evidence supporting CYFD's claim of reasonable efforts and contended that she should have been given more time to engage in the necessary services to regain custody of her child.

Legal Issues

• Whether the Children, Youth & Families Department used reasonable efforts to assist the mother in remedying the causes of and conditions that resulted in the child's removal.
• Whether the mother should have been given more time to work her treatment plan.

Disposition

• The district court’s order terminating the mother’s parental rights was affirmed.

Reasons

• The decision was made by a panel consisting of Judges Kristina Bogardus, Jacqueline R. Medina, and Gerald E. Baca. The court was unpersuaded by the mother's arguments against the summary affirmance proposed by the court. The court found no error in the proposed analysis and cited previous case law to support the decision that CYFD had made reasonable efforts to assist the mother and that parents do not have unlimited time to rehabilitate and reunite with their children. The court emphasized the focus of the Children’s Code on children’s health and safety and concluded that the mother's recent successes with her treatment plan were "too little, too late" (para 2).