S.H. v. State, Department of Health & Social Services, Division of Family & Youth Services

OPINION

FABE, Chief Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

The Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Family and Youth Services (DFYS) petitioned to terminate the parental rights of SH. and RH. In April 1999 a DFYS social worker removed S.H.'s five children from the home after receiving a report that S.H. was using cocaine and that RH. had returned home in violation of a restraining order. The primary issue before the superior court was whether the parents' recent efforts to eliminate substance abuse and domestic violence from the home and to attend to their children's complicated needs were…