Parental Unfitness California

Parental rights may be terminated if: (1) the parent is convicted of a felony; (2) the facts of the crime are of such a nature as to prove unfitness to have future custody and control of the child. ( 7825, subd. (a).) The felony conviction must involve "egregious underlying facts that have a direct bearing on parental fitness . . . ." (In Re Baby Girl M. (2006) 135 Cal.App.4th 1528, 1539.) In making a determination of parental unfitness, "the court may consider the parent's criminal record prior to the felony conviction to the extent that the criminal record demonstrates a pattern of behavior substantially related to the welfare of the child or the parent's ability to exercise custody and control regarding his or child." ( 7825, subd. (a)(2).) For example, a parent who commits a series of burglaries while on parole for armed robbery may have his parental rights terminated, where the parent has just been released from prison and was incarcerated on one charge or another for most of his adult life, interspersed with brief periods of release. (Adoption of D.S.C. (1979) 93 Cal.App.3d 14, 19-20, 25-26.)