Adoption of Natasha

The mother appeals from a December 23, 1999, District Court order committing her sons, Adam and Michael, and her daughter, Natasha, to the permanent custody of the Department of Social Services (DSS) and dispensing with the need for her consent to their adoption.2 The mother claims that her trial was fatally flawed due to the participation of DSS, when the proposed adoptive mother of Natasha was, at all relevant times, a supervisor at the DSS office from which the biological family received services. She seeks disqualification of DSS, a remand, and the appointment of a private agency to…