Termination under § 19b(3)(j); Child’s best interests

After remand, the court affirmed the trial court’s order terminating respondent-mother’s parental rights to the child-J. In a prior appeal, it affirmed the trial court’s determination that statutory grounds existed to terminate her parental rights under § (j). However, because J was placed with relatives, and the record contained no evidence that the trial court considered that relative placement when considering the J’s best interests, it held that “the factual record was inadequate for purposes of the best-interests determination.” Thus, it vacated the trial court’s order terminating the mother’s parental rights and remanded for a new best-interests determination, retaining jurisdiction. On remand, the trial court conducted the best-interests determination and held that “the record showed, by a preponderance of the evidence, that termination of” the mother’s parental rights was in J’s best interests. Thus, it entered a new order terminating her parental rights to J. The case returned to the court after remand. “Having reviewed the transcript of the trial court’s best-interest findings, and being familiar with the reasons why the trial court concluded that statutory grounds existed to terminate respondent’s parental rights, we conclude that the trial court did not clearly err in determining that terminating” her parental rights was in J’s best interests.