Ray Ellis, Appellant v. Arkansas Department of Human Services and C.e., a Minor Child, Appellees

Summary

The Supreme Court of Arkansas reversed and remanded because the circuit court failed to conduct a mandatory six-month review hearing and failed to apply the statutory preference for placement with a qualified relative before changing the permanency goal to adoption. The court held that the relative-placement preference is not limited to a child's initial placement and that the foster family's bond with the child could not, by itself, defeat that preference. On remand, the court required updated consideration of the relative home study, the agency's placement recommendation, the statutory preference, and the child's best interests. Justice Danielson, dissenting, would have affirmed because the permanency-planning statute favored adoption and the record supported retaining the child with his bonded foster parents.