IN RE DAMERIUS WILLIAMS MINOR
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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS
In the Matter of DAMERIUS WILLIAMS
and DIMITRI WILLIAMS, Minors.
__________________________________________
FAMILY INDEPENDENCE AGENCY,
UNPUBLISHED
December 19, 1997
Petitioner-Appellee,
v
No. 201251
Wayne Juvenile Court
LC No. 92-298347
BONNIE BRIGHT,
Respondent-Appellant,
and
DIMITRI WILLIAMS,
Respondent.
Before: MacKenzie, P.J., and Hood and Hoekstra, JJ.
PER CURIAM.
Respondent-appellant appeals by delayed application granted from the juvenile court order
terminating her parental rights to the minor children under MCL 712A.19b(3)(c)(i) and (g); MSA
27.3178(598.19b)(3)(c)(i) and (g). We affirm.
Respondent-appellant first argues that the juvenile court erred in terminating her parental rights
because the basis on which the petition sought termination was unclear. We disagree. The petition
seeking termination included in its factual statements that the original petition seeking temporary custody
was filed due to “neglect,” that respondent-appellant was unable to care for the children due to her
“mental and emotional well-being,” and that respondent-appellant had previously been guilty of “serious
chronic neglect and abuse” of her other five children. Moreover, the petition specifically cited MCL
712A.19b(3)(c)(i), (g), and (j); MSA 27.3178(598.19b)(3)(c)(i), (g), and (j) as the legal bases for its
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action. The factual and legal allegations were adequate to place respondent-appellant on notice that
petitioner was contending she could not properly care for the children. In re Brown, 149 Mich App
529, 544; 386 NW2d 577 (1986).
The record reveals that respondent-appellant was unprepared to care for the children since their
birth because of her seizures and emotional instability. Even though the children were more than
eighteen months old at the termination hearing, there was still no prospect that respondent-appellant
would be prepared to care for them for at least another year. In this context, the juvenile court did not
clearly err in finding that there was clear and convincing evidence that the condition that led to the
adjudication would not be rectified within a reasonable time and that respondent-appellant would not be
able to provide proper care within a reasonable time given the age of the children, MCL
712A.19b(3)(c)(i) and (g); MSA 27.3178(598.19b)(3)(c)(i) and (g).1 See In re Dahms, 187 Mich
App 644, 647; 468 NW2d 615 (1991). Respondent-appellant has failed to demonstrate that the
decision to terminate her parental rights was not in the children’s best interests. In re Hall-Smith, 222
Mich App 470; 564 NW2d 156 (1997).
Affirmed.
/s/ Barbara B. MacKenzie
/s/ Harold Hood
/s/ Joel P. Hoekstra
1
This Court need not address the issue whether the juvenile court properly terminated respondent
appellant’s parental rights under MCL 712A.19a(c); MSA 27.3178(598.19a)(c) as argued by
respondent-appellant on appeal because this was not a basis on which petitioner sought termination and
was not a basis on which the juvenile court decided to terminate respondent-appellant’s rights.
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