Parental Rights Terminated for Failure to Remedy Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Domestic Violence Issues that Adversely Affected Ability to Properly Parent Children
Carr v. James City County Div. of Soc. Servs., Nos. 0339-04-1 , 0499-04-1 , 2004 WL 1822374 (Va.
Ct. App. 2004)
It is not unusual for mental illness and substance abuse to figure prominently in a decision to remove a child from the custody of a parent, as well as in a decision to ultimately terminate parental rights. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that a mother's failure to remedy issues associated with mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence that adversely affected her ability to properly parent her children provided a sufficient basis for terminating the mother's parental rights. The court indicated that the focus is not whether steps have been taken to remedy these issues, but what has been achieved as a result of these steps...