Walker v. Department of Public Welfare

This case presents a question with respect to the procedure applicable to an appeal from orders of a juvenile and domestic relations district court terminating residual parental rights pursuant to Code § 16.1-283.

The appellants, Jack Hilton Walker, Sr., and Rita B. Walker (parents), were married in December 1975 when both were nineteen years old. Their first child, Jack, Jr., was born on January 20, 1976. The parents were unemployed, poorly educated, and without a fixed residence. Shortly after the child’s birth, the family moved in with a relative in Page County and had repeated contacts…