Adoption of Osborn., 24-P-0303

Osborn, a ten-year-old boy with autism and significant developmental delays, was removed from his mother's care due to concerns about neglect, home conditions, his educational and medical needs, and the mother's mental health.
Osborn has lived in various residential facilities since removal and has never been placed with a foster family.
The mother attended visitation consistently but struggled to comply with action plans due to her mental health challenges.
The Juvenile Court found the mother unfit, placed Osborn in Department of Children and Families (DCF) custody, and terminated parental rights but continued visitation.
Osborn and his mother appealed, challenging the sufficiency of evidence supporting termination of parental rights, particularly regarding Osborn’s best interests and likelihood of adoption.
The Appeals Court affirmed the finding of unfitness and DCF custody, but vacated the termination of parental rights, remanding for further consideration of Osborn’s best interests.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether termination of parental rights is in Osborn’s best interests	Termination creates legal orphanhood, unlikely adoption; not in best interests	Department argues adoption is possible and in best interests	Termination vacated; insufficient evidence that it is in Osborn's best interests
Sufficiency of evidence for parental unfitness	Mother conceded unfitness	Department presented overwhelming evidence of unfitness	Affirmed; evidence supported finding of current and future unfitness
Adequacy of adoption plan/likelihood of adoption	No evidence Osborn is adoptable; statistics vague	Department cited statistics and adoption recruitment efforts	Statistics insufficient to prove likelihood of adoption; remanded for further best interests findings
Due process violation due to judge comment	Judge’s pre-evidence comment prejudicial	No objection at trial; not prejudicial given evidence	Waived on appeal; not prejudicial under the circumstances

Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. 339 (Mass. 1992) (parent-child bond should not be severed unless necessary for child's welfare)
Adoption of Thea, 78 Mass. App. Ct. 818 (Mass. App. Ct. 2011) (termination of parental rights vacated where no meaningful post-termination plan and insufficient benefit to child)
Adoption of Ramona, 61 Mass. App. Ct. 260 (Mass. App. Ct. 2004) (vacating termination where children unlikely to be adopted and remained bonded with parent)
Adoption of Nancy, 443 Mass. 512 (Mass. 2005) (termination appropriate where children were in stable situations and would benefit from permanency)