GIRL DROPS ATTEMPT TO TERMINATE MOTHER'S RIGHTS

DOVER, Del. (AP) 97 A 10-year-old girl who sought to terminate her mothe
r's
parental rights decided Monday to drop the case, saying she will return t
o
live with her natural mother in South Carolina.

Samantha Frazer made her decision not to reopen the case in Delaware Fami
ly
Court after returning from a two-week visit with Victoria Frazer last
Thursday, according to her lawyer, Matthew Denn.

Ms. Frazer, who was described in Family Court documents released by a chi
ld
rights group as a rehabilitated drug addict, abandoned her daughter in
Dover four years ago. Samantha has been in four foster homes since then,
and a family was prepared to adopt her if Ms. Frazer's parental rights we
re
terminated.

A Family Court judge ordered this spring that Samantha and her birth moth
er
be reunited Aug. 1, denying the state Division of Family Services request
that Ms. Frazer's parental rights be terminated. The judge ruled the stat
e
agency had not done enough to attempt to reunify the family.

The agency opted not to appeal the decision, resulting in Samantha's
precedent-setting filing in the state Supreme Court, asking that she be
given legal standing 97 which she did not have in Delaware 97 to appeal
the
ruling.

The Supreme Court granted Samantha standing and her own lawyer, Denn, to
represent her in Family Court. But she had to file to reopen the case by
Monday.

Denn's office announced that Samantha changed her mind after visiting her
mother for two weeks in Georgetown, S.C.

"I have advised Samantha about the legal implications of her decision, an
d
she has made her decision fully aware of its potential consequences,'' De
nn
said in a statement. "The Supreme Court gave her the right to have her
voice heard in this case and she has done so.''

Ms. Frazer's lawyer, Robert Taylor, said his client should be credited fo
r
turning her life around and wanting to put her family back together.

"This is a story of perseverance and redemption,'' he said. "That's her
daughter. She loves her daughter.''

Janice Mink, co-president of the Delaware chapter of Hear My Voice, a
national child rights group, said she worries the move is not best for
Samantha, but understands how hard it is for her to reject her natural mo
ther.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski