Adoption of Ilona, 459 Mass. 53

Department filed care and protection petition under G. L. c. 119, § 24, alleging Ilona is a child in need of care and protection; trial court found mother currently unfit and unlikely to become fit in near future and committed Ilona to the Department for adoption by her foster parents.
Trial court found a significant attachment between Ilona and her mother and allowed continued contact decisions to be made by the preadoptive parents, without setting visitation terms.
Mother argued (1) unfitness may be temporary if services were provided, and (2) judge abused discretion by not ordering visitation.
Appeals Court affirmed termination of parental rights but held judge abused by not ordering visitation; Supreme Judicial Court granted review to address both issues.
Court concluded termination was appropriate and visitation should be left to the adoptive parents' judgment, not mandatory by court order, given Ilona’s thriving condition with the foster family.
Department had provided and offered multiple services (therapy, nurturing classes, anger management, job support) but the mother failed to demonstrate meaningful improvement; cognitive limitations were noted but not grounds to terminate solely.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether termination of parental rights was appropriate	Ilona’s mother is currently unfit but unfitness could be temporary with services.	Court should terminate if unfitness is likely to continue; services cannot reverse permanent unfitness.	Termination appropriate; unfitness not temporary; best interests favored termination.
Whether visitation should be ordered post-termination	Courts should order visitation to preserve mother–child relationship.	Adoptive parents should decide visitation; no mandatory order needed.	Visitation not required by order; best left to adoptive parents' informed decision.

Adoption of Inez, 428 Mass. 717 (1999) (temporary unfitness standard; deference to trial judge)
Adoption of Elena, 446 Mass. 24 (2006) (unfitness prognosis; best interests in termination)
Adoption of Paula, 420 Mass. 716 (1995) (prognostic evidence; importance of future fitness)
Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. 339 (1992) (extreme step; assess temporary unfitness with reasonable likelihood)
Adoption of Rico, 453 Mass. 749 (2009) (visitation when significant bonds exist; equity in adoption)
Adoption of Vito, 431 Mass. 550 (2000) (postadoption visitation authority; adoptive parent autonomy)
Adoption of Lenore, 55 Mass. App. Ct. 275 (2002) (match services to needs; cognitive limitations considered)
Adoption of Gregory, 434 Mass. 117 (2001) (reasonable efforts duty; accommodating parent needs)
Adoption of Gwendolyn, 29 Mass. App. Ct. 130 (1990) (adoptive parent decision-making authority; visitation relevance)