Maryland Family Law Maryland family law opinions and commentary
Adoption/guardianship — Change in permanency plan — Abuse of discretion
Ms. F. appeals from the order of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, sitting as a juvenile court, changing the permanency plan for each of her two sons from reunification to a concurrent plan for reunification and custody and guardianship by a relative or non-relative. Permanency plans for reunification had been in place for close to two years, and during that time, both the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (the “Department”) and the juvenile court had worked towards that goal. After it became obvious from Ms. F.’s lack of progress that reunification would be unlikely, the Department and the court started moving towards alternative plans of custody or guardianship by a relative or non-relative, culminating in the court’s order at issue here. Ms. F. contends that the court erred in changing the permanency plans because reasonable efforts were not made to assist her with reunification and because the court applied the wrong standard. Appellee, the Department, argues that the appeal should be dismissed because the order is interlocutory and not immediately appealable. The Department also disputes Ms. F.’s arguments on the merits, arguing that the correct standard was applied and that reasonable efforts were made to assist Ms. F. with reunification. Because we find that the court’s decision constituted …
