A mother who pleaded no contest in a termination of parental rights case did not waive or abandon her ability to challenge whether the Department of Health and Human Services made reasonable reunification efforts, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.

The trial court properly held that it was in the minor-child’s best interests to terminate the respondent-father’s parental rights, even though it “clearly erred” in finding that the child had a “lack of extended family support,” the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled.