In the Interests of G.I. and R.I., Minor Children

Kansas City, Kansas family law lawyer represented the Defendant in a parental rights termination action.

In June 2022, the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) received a report that a stranger found one-year-old R.I. wandering outside alone. DCF investigated the report and spoke to Mother and J.I. (Father) a few days after the incident. Mother and Father revealed financial and other family concerns. They explained that the paternal grandfather, whom the family lived with around that time, died the night before DCF arrived. Mother and Father had also separated three weeks earlier. Mother moved out of the home after the separation, and Father claimed that he had not seen her for those three weeks until DCF arrived. When asked about Mother's black eyes, Mother and Father denied any domestic abuse. But Mother later accused Father of often hitting her.



In July 2022, the State filed children in need of care (CINC) petitions for Mother and Father's two children (R.I. and G.I.) and a third child that Father had with a different mother. The petitions alleged that reasonable efforts were provided to the family but failed to prevent the removal of the children from their home and an emergency existed requiring out-of-home placement. As support, the petitions explained in part that while investigating the incident with R.I., DCF learned that Father took primary care of the three children. However, he exhibited concerning behavior which indicated possible drug use, an inability to properly supervise the children, lack of suitable housing, and child neglect. Mother had been arrested recently and placed in jail. When DCF contacted her at the jail, she admitted that she had been using oxycodone and fentanyl regularly. DCF also received reports accusing Mother of drug abuse, medical neglect of G.I., and physical neglect of G.I., R.I., and her stepchild.



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Legal issue Can a mother's parental rights be terminated due to lack of effort to adjust her circumstances and failure to complete court-ordered reintegration tasks while incarcerated?



Key Phrases Termination of parental rights. Children in need of care. Clear and convincing evidence. Unfitness unlikely to change. Best interests of the child.

Affirmed