In re Kimberlee C., 194 A.3d 925

In Feb 2016 the Department filed a child protection petition concerning six of Kimberlee C.'s children, including the youngest (age 3), based on the mother's long-standing mental health and substance abuse issues and unsafe housing.
The court placed the children in DHHS custody by jeopardy order in May 2016. The Department sought termination of Kimberlee's parental rights to the youngest child in Jan 2017.
After a two-day hearing, the District Court terminated Kimberlee's parental rights by judgment dated Feb 1, 2018 under 22 M.R.S. § 4055(1)(B)(2).
The court found longstanding mental-health and substance-abuse problems, limited supports, unstable employment, and inconsistent engagement with treatment; children made consistent disclosures of abuse and the youngest was subject to direct sibling abuse.
The court found Kimberlee had made efforts at reunification (counseling, substance-abuse treatment) but had not resolved trauma, domestic-violence issues, or demonstrated capacity for safe parenting within a time reasonably calculated to meet the child’s needs.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to terminate parental rights	Kimberlee: court relied on speculative, unchallenged expert testimony about sibling abuse and mother’s failure to prevent it	State: record, including consistent disclosures and expert opinion, supports findings that mother could not protect child or resume parenting in a timely manner	Court: Evidence was sufficient; findings not clearly erroneous; termination affirmed
Ineffective assistance of counsel at termination hearing	Kimberlee: counsel provided inadequate assistance before and during hearing	State: counsel objected, cross-examined witnesses, elicited testimony about treatment; record does not show deficient performance or prejudice	Court: Kimberlee failed to make prima facie showing; counsel’s performance not deficient and no prejudice shown; claim rejected

In re A.M., 55 A.3d 463 (Me. 2012) (standard for reviewing district court factual findings)
In re Thomas D., 854 A.2d 195 (Me. 2004) (statutory standard for termination when parent cannot protect or assume responsibility within child’s needs timeframe)
In re Logan M., 155 A.3d 430 (Me. 2017) (clear-error review of district court findings)
In re Scott S., 775 A.2d 1144 (Me. 2001) (deference to trial court’s credibility assessments)
Dyer v. Superintendent of Ins., 69 A.3d 416 (Me. 2013) (deference to trial court’s factual findings)
In re M.P., 126 A.3d 718 (Me. 2015) (standards for claiming ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal)
In re Child of Stephen E., 186 A.3d 134 (Me. 2018) (ineffective-assistance standard and prejudice inquiry)