Chloe W., Appellant v. State of Alaska, Department of Health & Social Services, Office of Children's Services, Appellee

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed termination of Chloe W.'s parental rights to her three-year-old son, an Indian child, because the record supported findings that she had not remedied her substance-abuse and mental-health conditions, OCS had made active reunification efforts, returning the child would likely cause serious emotional or physical damage, and termination served his best interests. The court also held that the trial court properly considered a post-trial stipulation concerning Chloe's physician and that Chloe failed to show prejudice from counsel's decision to enter the stipulation. Justice Bolger, concurring, would have declined to review the ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal without first allowing development of an adequate trial-court record.