IN RE: K.A.

CINA — Due process — Exclusion of father from child interview

This appeal arises from a decision of the Circuit Court for Cecil County, sitting as a juvenile court, to change the permanency plan for K.A., from a plan of reunification with her father to a primary plan of adoption by a non-relative. Appellant, Mr. A., who is K.A.’s father, filed a timely notice of appeal of the juvenile court’s order, presenting three questions for our review:

1. Did the court err by finding the Department made reasonable efforts toward the permanency plan of reunification?

2. Did the court err by changing K.A.’s permanency plan?

3. Did the court err by excluding the father and his attorney from the child interview without considering the father’s due process rights or articulating a reason for the exclusion?

Read the opinion here: