In re Anthony L.

Syllabus

The respondent mother appealed to this court from the judgments of the trial court terminating her parental rights as to three of her minor children. The trial court found that, pursuant to statute (§ 17a-112 [j] [3] [B] [i]), the mother had failed to achieve such a degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time she could assume a responsible position in the children's lives. She claimed, for the first time on appeal, that the court violated her and her children's substantive due process rights when, in its analysis of the children's best interests, it failed to determine whether the perma- nency plans for the children that were proposed by the respondent Commissioner of Children and Families secured a more permanent and stable life for them compared to that which she could provide if she were given time to rehabilitate herself. Held that the respondent mother's unpreserved claim was not reviewable, as it was not raised during trial and, thus, she failed to provide this court with an adequate record for review of the claim; the trial court found that the petitioner had proved that the children's best interests were served by their living with their maternal grandmother, the mother on appeal did not challenge that and other relevant findings concerning the children's best interests, and this court was unable to discern any evidence in the record about when the maternal grandmother eventually may not be able to continue to provide a home for the children or as to why the children could not then be transitioned to their fictive kin in accordance with the petitioner's plan for their residence with them and possible adoption. Argued September 5—officially released October 21, 2019