Department of Children & Family Services v. Devine

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE JONES

delivered the opinion of the court:

Charles and Kathleen Devine were found unfit and their parental rights were ordered terminated. Their two minor children, Jeffrey and Stephanie, were made wards of the court and adjudged dependent and neglected. From that order the parents appeal contending: (1) because the parents were mentally retarded and therefore not responsible for their inability to learn, they cannot be found unfit where the grounds of unfitness “arise out of the mental retardation,” and (2) because the newborn child, Stephanie, was never in the care of…