In re Dynastie D.

Syllabus

The minor child, who had been adjudicated neglected and committed to the custody of the petitioner, the Commissioner of Children and Families, appealed from the trial court's judgment granting the petitioner's motion for the out-of-state placement of the child. The child claimed, inter alia, that the court failed to follow the requirements of the statute ((Rev. to 2023) § 46b-129 (j) (4)) governing out-of-state placements by the petitioner. Held: This court concluded that, in determining whether the petitioner has demon- strated good cause for the out-of-state placement of a child pursuant to § 46b-129 (j) (4), the trial court should balance the expected well-being of the child in the proposed out-of-state placement with that of the child were he or she to remain in Connecticut, which is an independent determination from the best interest of the child. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the petitioner demonstrated good cause pursuant to § 46b-129 (j) (4) for the child's place- ment in Florida, as the court properly weighed relevant factors in its good cause determination and the determination was adequately supported by evidence in the record. The trial court properly placed the burden of proof for good cause on the petitioner as, despite the court's isolated use of imprecise language in its oral decision, the challenged language merely reflected the court's assessment of the evidence offered by the child to the court as part of its determination of whether the petitioner had met its burden with respect to good cause, and the single challenged sentence was not enough to overcome the pre- sumption that the court knows and has applied the law correctly. The trial court's factual findings challenged by the child were not clearly erroneous, as they were supported by evidence in the record, and there was ample evidence in the record, not challenged by the child, supporting the court's ultimate conclusion that there was good cause to place the