In the Interest of E.C.R., a Child

Summary

Holding that Family Code § 161.001(1)(O)'s requirement that a child be removed under Chapter 262 'for the abuse or neglect of the child' reaches removals based on the risk of abuse or neglect—not merely actual abuse or neglect of the removed child—the Texas Supreme Court concluded that the harm suffered or danger faced by other children in the parent's care is part of that calculus. Because the removal affidavit and the trial court's unchallenged emergency-removal findings showed E.C.R. faced an immediate and continuing danger to his physical health or safety, and because M.R. did not dispute her noncompliance with the court-ordered service plan or E.C.R.'s nine-plus months in Department custody, the subsection O ground was established as a matter of law. The Court also found the evidence legally sufficient for a reasonable factfinder to conclude termination was in E.C.R.'s best interest, and it reversed in part the court of appeals' judgment—which had required actual abuse or neglect of the specific child—and remanded for that court to decide the unresolved factual-sufficiency challenge.