DMR.1.6.020 Grounds for Involuntary Termination

Termination of parental rights may be ordered only in cases where the Children's Court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that one or more of the following grounds exists:

(a) Abandonment.

(1) The child has been left without provision for care or support and without reasonable expectation that a relative or other person would care for and support the child, and the petitioner has investigated and cannot locate the parent.

(2) The child has been outside the care and custody of the parent and has been accessible to the parent, for one year or more, and the parent has failed to visit, support, or communicate with the child for a period of six months or longer. Incidental contact and contact through other persons shall not prevent a finding of no visit or communication.

(b) Failure to remedy condition.

(1) The child has been in out-of-home care for a period of three years and the parent has failed to make substantial progress to remedy the circumstances necessitating out-of-home care.

(2) The child has been adjudicated a child in need of care and placed in out of home care for a period of 18 months or more and the parent has failed to make substantial efforts to remedy the circumstances supporting adjudication and the Children's Court has admonished the parent at least six months prior to the filing of a termination petition concerning the possible termination of parental rights under this subsection.

(c) Abuse. The child is under the jurisdiction of the Children's Court pursuant to Section DMR.1.5.010 of this ordinance and the Court finds that the facts establishing jurisdiction show a pattern of repeated or severe abuse.

(d) Continuing denial of periods of physical placement. The non-custodial parent has been denied all periods of physical placement or visitation rights by a Court or Courts of competent jurisdiction for a period of at least one year, the parent has been warned at least ninety days prior to the filing of a petition that a petition would be filed, and there is no currently pending action to modify the parent's physical placement or visitation rights in a Court of competent jurisdiction.

(e) Failure to assume parental responsibility. The child is a non-marital child whose non-custodial parent has not subsequently adopted the child or married the child's custodial parent and who has not established a substantial parental relationship with the child, as defined in Section DMR.1.2.010(y) of this ordinance.

(f) Absent parent. A parent who has legal custody of a child pursuant to a judgment of divorce or separation or paternity may file a petition to terminate the parental rights of an absent parent if the petitioning parent has had physical placement of the child for at least 48 months prior to the filing of the petition, and if, for at least 48 months prior to the filing of the petition, the other parent has been absent from the household where the child has lived, has not had primary physical placement of the child, has failed to contribute to the support of the child, and has not communicated or attempted to communicate with the child or with the petitioning parent about the child. Incidental communications through other persons shall not prevent a finding of no contact or communication.

(g) Other. The parent's parental rights could be terminated under the law of the state where the child is physically found.