Background
Children’s Protective Services received a complaint that the mother’s three minor children had been left home alone, with pills and coffee grounds scattered on the floor. One child was reportedly bleeding and found inside an oven that was turned on. The petition also alleged prior incidents of inadequate supervision, alcohol abuse, untreated depression, suicide attempts, and threats against the children. The trial court removed the children and placed them under the care and supervision of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
DHHS developed a treatment plan addressing the mother’s mental health, substance use, parenting, employment, and financial stability. It referred her for psychological, mental-health, and substance-abuse assessments and offered therapy, treatment-court participation, transportation assistance, appointment reminders, calendars, and repeated referrals. After approximately a year of limited participation in services and parenting time, DHHS sought termination. Neither parent appeared at the termination hearing despite proper notice, and the trial court terminated the mother’s parental rights under MCL 712A.19b(3)(c)(i), (c)(ii), (g), and (j).
The Court’s Holding
The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed. Although the mother challenged the trial court’s finding under MCL 712A.19b(3)(c)(ii), she did not challenge the independently sufficient grounds under subsections (c)(i), (g), and (j). Because Michigan law requires clear and convincing evidence of only one statutory ground for termination, her failure to contest those alternative grounds precluded appellate relief.
The court also held that the mother failed to establish plain error in the trial court’s finding that DHHS made reasonable reunification efforts. DHHS recognized her mental-health difficulties, created a service plan, made multiple referrals and re-referrals, offered transportation and intensive scheduling assistance, and adjusted services in an effort to promote participation. The mother attended some services but did not continue, failed to complete repeated psychological and psychiatric referrals, and did not show that additional services would have produced a better result.
Key Takeaways
- A parent seeking reversal must challenge every independently sufficient statutory ground supporting termination.
- Reasonable reunification efforts may include repeated referrals, transportation assistance, scheduling tools, reminders, and services tailored to a parent’s mental-health needs.
- DHHS must provide reasonable services, but a parent has a corresponding obligation to participate in and benefit from those services.
Why It Matters
The decision illustrates two recurring barriers to appellate relief in termination cases: leaving alternative statutory grounds unchallenged and failing to preserve a reasonable-efforts objection. It also shows that DHHS’s obligation is one of reasonable accommodation and assistance, not guaranteed participation or success when a parent repeatedly declines or abandons offered services.