The Appeals Court concluded that the judge did not err in terminating the mother's parental rights but that he abused his discretion in not ordering visitation with the mother. Adoption of Ilona, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 481, 488 (2010). We granted the applications for further appellate review filed by Ilona and the mother.
Specifically, he claims that his limited contact with Nambdi and his failure to comply with his service plan do not amount to 'clear and convincing evidence' of unfitness as required by our case law. See Adoption of Ilona, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 481, 485 (2010), S. C., 459 Mass. 53 (2011), quoting from Adoption of Carlos, 413 Mass. 339, 348 (1992) ('For a judge to take the 'extreme step' of irrevocably terminating the legal relationship between a parent and child, [s]he must determine by 'clear and convincing evidence that the parent is currently unfit to further the child's best interest'').
June 18, 2010. Reported below: 76 Mass. App. Ct. 481 (2010). Further appellate review granted:
See Petition of the Dept. of Pub. Welfare to Dispense with Consent to Adoption, 376 Mass. at 260–261. We note that if the judge found the only parenting evaluation prepared in this case to be lacking, it was within her discretion to order that a new one be performed. Adoption of Ilona, 76 Mass.App.Ct. 481, 484 n. 10 (2010), S.C., 459 Mass. 53 (2011) (judge declined to give any weight to parenting evaluation where evaluator was not licensed clinician; judge exercised his discretion to appoint licensed social worker to complete evaluation).