Background
G.L.W. was removed from T.L.B. and G.L.B. shortly after his January 2021 birth and remained in out-of-home placement under a CHIPS dispositional order. Since October 2021, he had lived with his aunt and uncle. T.L.B. is an enrolled Ho-Chunk Nation member, making G.L.W. an Indian child under the applicable Wisconsin and federal Indian Child Welfare Act provisions.
In 2024, Monroe County petitioned to appoint the aunt and uncle as G.L.W.’s guardians under Wis. Stat. § 48.977. Following a three-day trial, the circuit court found every statutory condition satisfied by clear and convincing evidence and later appointed them guardians. T.L.B. appealed.
The Court’s Holding
The court affirmed. It held that the circuit court applied the proper legal standards, including the parental-preference principles in Barstad. The decision was not based on whether the aunt and uncle could parent better than G.L.W.’s parents; it was based on the parents’ inability to meet G.L.W.’s own health, safety, and developmental needs.
Clear and convincing evidence supported the finding that both parents were unable to carry out guardianship duties. The evidence included hazardous clutter and unsanitary conditions in the home, difficulty arranging and following through on medical care, problems working productively with providers, and a lack of understanding of G.L.W.’s needs. The County also made reasonable reunification efforts, and the record supported the finding that further reunification efforts were unlikely to succeed or would not serve G.L.W.’s best interests.
Key Takeaways
- A guardianship under § 48.977 may rest on a parent’s inability to safely meet the particular child’s needs, not a comparison with prospective guardians.
- Unsafe home conditions, missed medical follow-through, and inability to engage with providers can establish inability to perform guardianship duties.
- The statute requires reasonable—not ideal—reunification efforts.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that courts may consider a child’s individual medical, safety, and developmental needs when determining parental ability in a statutory guardianship case. It also distinguishes the reasonable-efforts requirement for guardianship proceedings from Indian Child Welfare Act active-efforts requirements that applied to the earlier removal proceedings.