In the case of Bailey v. Halifax Department of Social Services, the Virginia Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, ruled that the trial court did not err in terminating a mother's parental rights to her son where evidence proved she was unable to remedy the condition leading to the removal and foster care of the child.
Under Code § 16.1-283(C)(2), parental rights may be terminated if the parents "without good cause, have been unwilling or unable" to "remedy substantially the conditions which led to or required continuation of the child’s foster care placement" within a reasonable time. A parent’s "mental deficiency that is of such severity that there is no reasonable expectation" that the parent will be able to "undertake responsibility for the care needed by the child" does not constitute "good cause" under Code § 16.1-283(C)(2).
In this case, termination was justified. The DSS had extensive contact with the mother and her children. One of her children had been killed in a car accident; another child was in foster care. Her psychological evaluation showed she was unable to handle child rearing responsibilities. The child at issue in this case had special needs which mother could not address.
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