In re Child of Olivia F., 217 A.3d 1106

DHHS filed for child protection in Oct 2017; petition to terminate mother's parental rights followed after preliminary orders and a jeopardy order. A consolidated termination and placement hearing was held Jan 25 and Feb 25, 2019.
The mother attended the first day but was not present for the second day; her counsel reported the mother had chosen not to return to the courtroom after being in the courthouse earlier that day.
The court received additional evidence on the second day, including placement evidence; the child had been placed with his maternal great-grandmother for ~16 months.
The court found the mother (age 19) suffered chronic substance-use disorder, had repeated incarcerations, no contact with the child since Sept 2018, failed to complete required services, and tested positive for cocaine one day before the second day of trial.
The court concluded by clear and convincing evidence that the mother was unfit on multiple statutory grounds (including abandonment for failing to appear), that termination was in the child’s best interest, and ordered a permanency plan of adoption. The mother appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether mother’s failure to attend the second day of the termination hearing constitutes abandonment/intent to forego parental duties	Olivia: the court erred as a matter of law and there was insufficient evidence of intent to forego parental duties	DHHS/Court: statutory provisions permit treating failure to attend as evidence of intent; mother offered no good-cause excuse	Court: affirmed finding of abandonment—mother failed to show good cause, so absence supported intent to forego parental duties
Whether clear and convincing evidence supports parental unfitness	Olivia: argues insufficient evidence (particularly as to intent to forego duties)	DHHS/Court: record shows chronic substance use, lack of reunification, incarceration, failure to complete services—sufficient for at least one statutory ground	Court: multiple grounds found; at least one ground of unfitness is supported by clear and convincing evidence; affirmed
Whether court abused discretion in best-interest determination by speculating about adoption by great-grandmother	Olivia: court improperly went beyond termination scope by speculating who would adopt post-termination	DHHS/Court: consolidated permanency/termination hearing permits consideration of permanency; court did not declare adoption by great-grandmother inevitable	Court: no abuse—court stayed within authority, did not mandate adoption by great-grandmother, and permissibly considered permanency; affirmed

In re R.M., 114 A.3d 212 (Me. 2015) (standard of review for termination and requirement of clear-and-convincing evidence)
In re Child of Kaysean M., 197 A.3d 525 (Me. 2018) (failure to attend hearing may be evidence of intent to forego parental duties; good cause exception)
In re Children of Anthony N., 207 A.3d 1191 (Me. 2019) (parent’s nonresponse to notice may support finding of intent to forego parental duties)
In re M.B., 65 A.3d 1260 (Me. 2013) (affirmance if any one statutory ground for unfitness is supported)
In re Children of Nicole M., 187 A.3d 1 (Me. 2018) (consolidated termination and permanency hearings may address best-interest and permanency plan; adoption decisions reserved for separate adoption action)
In re Children of Bethmarie R., 207 A.3d 197 (Me. 2019) (trial court should not declare an adoption inevitable as part of a termination judgment)
In re Thomas H., 889 A.3d 297 (Me. 2005) (discusses scope of termination proceedings vs adoption proceedings)