In Re the Department of Public Welfare to Dispense With Consent to Adoption

On April 22, 1980, a judge of the Probate Court rendered a judgment granting a petition brought by the Department of Public Welfare (department) to dispense with parental consent to the adoption of a minor child. See G. L. c. 210, § 3. The mother appealed, and we transferred the appeal here on our own motion. The judgment below being unsupported by adequate findings as to the fitness of the surviving parent, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

The child, Shari, is now between five and six years old. Her mother, Brenda, was serving a prison term at the Massachusetts Correctional…