In re Rabia K.

Syllabus

The respondent mother, whose minor child, R, was adjudicated neglected and committed to the custody and care of the petitioner, the Commis- sioner of Children and Families, appealed to this court from the trial court's judgment, claiming that the court improperly found that R had been neglected, and that the Department of Children and Families had made reasonable efforts to prevent R's removal. After the mother had filed the present appeal, counsel for R filed a motion to revoke commit- ment in the trial court on the basis that R had returned home to the mother, who had moved to Massachusetts, and no longer wanted to be in the petitioner's custody. The trial court thereafter granted the motion to revoke commitment and closed the case, returning R to the care and custody of the mother. Subsequently, the petitioner moved to dismiss this appeal as moot, claiming that this court could not afford the mother any practical relief in light of the trial court's order revoking commitment of R. In her opposition, the mother acknowledged that the second issue on appeal, R's commitment to the petitioner, had been rendered moot but claimed that the first issue, the adjudication of neglect, was not moot because the mother could experience collateral consequences in Massachusetts as a result thereof, as the adjudication of neglect could be used against her in a future child protection proceeding in Massachu- setts to establish a pattern of repeated parental neglect. The petitioner responded that there was no reasonable possibility that prejudicial con- sequences would occur for the mother as a result thereof because R no longer lived in Connecticut, would soon reach the age of majority, and the juvenile court would lose jurisdiction over her at that time. Held that the respondent mother's appeal was dismissed as moot, there being no practical relief that this court could afford the mother on the issue of adjudication of neglect given that the underlying case had been closed and R h