The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed an order from the Orphans’ Court that involuntarily terminated a mother’s parental rights and changed the children’s permanency goal to adoption. On appeal, the mother argued that the Orphans’ Court improperly utilized a “fault based analysis”, and the mother stressed that ruling that severing from the children would not be detrimental to is different from finding that termination would best serve their needs and welfare. The Superior Court focused its analysis on 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511. The Court agreed with the mother that determining whether a parent’s conduct justifies termination under Section 2511(a) is distinct from the needs and welfare analysis of Section 2511(b). But the Court held that the Orphans’ Court properly weighed those considerations and affirmed.
