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Matthew B. v. State3/16/2005
ct eventually as a caretaker. The superior court noted in its oral findings that Benjamin does offer "some possibility as a guardian slash adoptive parent, but even [Benjamin] is unavailable for at least 12 months . . . ." Although the superior court found that Benjamin should be involved in the children's lives, it was unwilling to order anything more specific without knowing more about Benjamin and his relationship with the pre-adoptive family. After explaining his finding that the best interests of the children lay in termination, Judge Morse stated: "that is not to say that the concerns regarding extended family and ethnicity are not concerns that need to be dealt with, but they are not relevant to the termination decision." The decision to terminate parental rights is governed by AS 47.10 and should be made separately from placement decisions. As this court stated in Martin N. v. State, " he existence of relatives with whom [the child] might have been placed . . . is unrelated to whether [the father's] parental rights should have been terminated . . . ."
Moreover, Matthew does not provide any evidence to indicate that his paternal relatives, including Benjamin, will have less access to the children after termination. Following the trial court's oral findings in favor of termination, the maternal aunt stated that she has been in contact with Benjamin via email and that "we are encouraging the kids . . . to continue that contact with [Benjamin]." She also maintained that she has "never discouraged anybody from . . . keeping in touch." It is within the discretion of the trial court to conclude that the children needed both the permanence and security of adoptive parents, as well as the space and distance from their father to be able to heal from the trauma of their mother's murder. The superior court did not err in concluding that the best interests of the children would be better served by a permanent placement now, rather than by attempting to place the children with a paternal relative at a later, unknown date.
IV. CONCLUSION
Because the record supports the superior court's findings as to the children's best interests, we AFFIRM the termination of Matthew's parental rights.
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