DYFS v. E.S. and F.D./Matter of E.P.S., unpublished opinion, App. Div. Docket No. 0547-09T4 (June 10, 2010) -
"We vacate the order terminating the parental rights of E.S. and reverse and remand for further proceedings following the appointment of counsel for E.S.... Suffice it to say, the record strongly suggests that termination of parental rights is an appropriate remedy. A parent, however, has certain rights that must be honored in the course of all proceedings that seek to terminate her parental rights. Chief among these rights is representation by counsel.... Here, counsel for E.S. sought to be relieved at the point when the complaint alleging neglect, commonly referred to as the Title 9 or the FN proceeding, was concluding and the termination of parental rights proceeding, commonly referred to as the Title 30 or the FG proceeding, was about to commence.... The judge's decision to relieve counsel centered on assigned counsel's need to be compensated. The judge also seems to have assumed that counsel could provide little or any assistance at the proof hearing. As previously noted, that is simply not the case. Moreover, the record strongly suggests that the judge never contemplated an adjournment to a date certain to allow counsel to contact his client, attempt to determine her desired response to the complaint, and secure her attendance at trial or effectuate an identified surrender. Moreover, an adjournment rather than the immediate commencement of the proof hearing would almost certainly have prevented the entirely too summary procedure pursued in this matter. In short, we are satisfied that the course pursued here denied E.S. the due process to which she was entitled."
