Silvera v. Fairfax Cnty. Dep't of Family Servs.

• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: JUNIUS P. FULTON, III JUDGE
• Docket Number: 0214-25-4,0206-25-4
• Decision Date: 16 December 2025
• Citation: Silvera v. Fairfax Cnty. Dep't of Family Servs., 0206-25-4, 0214-25-4 (Va. App. Dec 16, 2025)
• Parties: MARGIORY HELEN SILVERA v. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES JEREMIAS FLORES SANCHEZ v. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES

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MARGIORY HELEN SILVERA v. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES

JEREMIAS FLORES SANCHEZ v. FAIRFAX COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY SERVICES

Nos. 0214-25-4, 0206-25-4

Court of Appeals of Virginia

December 16, 2025

FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF FAIRFAX COUNTY David Bernhard, Judge ^[1]

Donna L. Biderman (Law Office of Donna L. Biderman, PLLC, on briefs), for appellant Margiory Helen Silvera.

John J. Woolard (Evan X. Tucker; Heather B. Chaney; Caroline G Amarant; McGuireWoods LLP, on briefs), for appellant Jeremias Flores Sanchez.

Donna R. Banks, Assistant County Attorney; Robin L. Kozin-Angelo Guardian ad litem for the minor children (Elizabeth D. Teare Kimberly P. Baucom, on briefs), for appellee.

Present: Judges Athey, Fulton and Lorish Argued by videoconference

MEMORANDUM OPINION ^[*]

JUNIUS P. FULTON, III JUDGE

Margiory Helen Silvera (mother) and Jeremias Flores Sanchez (father) appeal the circuit court's orders terminating their parental rights to their children under Code § 16.1-283(B) and (C)(2). They challenge the circuit court's evidentiary rulings and assert that the evidence was insufficient to support termination of their parental rights. Finding no error in the circuit court's judgments, we affirm.

BACKGROUND^[2]

"On appeal, 'we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the prevailing party below, in this case the Department.'" Joyce v. Botetourt Cnty. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 75 Va.App. 690, 695 (2022) (quoting Farrell v. Warren Cnty. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 59 Va.App. 375, 386 (2012)).

Mother and father are the biological parents to three children, J.F., F.F., and E.F., who were seven, six, and almost three years old at the time of the circuit court hearing in October of 2024- more than two years after the children entered foster care. Mother is also the biological mother to two older children, J.N. and N.M., who were thirteen and nine at the time of the circuit court hearing.^[3]

The family first became involved with the Fairfax County Department of Family Services in 2016, when the Department received a report that J.N. and N.M. were mentally and physically abused. That same year, mother asked the Department to place J.N. and N.M. in foster care because she had no place to stay. She was pregnant with J.F. at the time. J.N. and N.M. entered foster care in December 2016. While in foster care, the children and mother had regular visitations and received therapeutic services. J.N. and N.M. returned to mother's custody in June 2018; the Department continued services with the family after mother regained custody.

In 2018 and 2019, the Department learned that the children had been exposed to domestic violence between mother and father. The Department also received a report in August 2019 that F.F. had nearly drowned after mother left the children unsupervised near a pool.^[4] Mother admitted that she left the children unsupervised because she was angry following an argument with father.

In March 2020, the Department received a report that J.F., then three years old, left the home unaccompanied and tried to cross a busy street. During an unannounced visit, a Department employee observed a bruise on J.N.'s face; J.N. reported that father had hit him. Mother admitted that she had told the child to hide the bruise under a mask because she was worried about father's immigration status. The Department obtained protective orders for abuse and neglect against father. The Department required mother and father to each undergo a psychiatric evaluation, receive therapeutic services, and restricted father to supervised visitation with the children.

The Department worked with mother to create a supervision plan and provided mother with a safety gate and cameras. After learning that mother's home had a bed bug and cockroach infestation, the Department provided mother with eradication services and encasements for the family's mattresses. The Department also provided the family with home-based services to foster structure, routine, and safety, as well as "to support modification of parenting to meet the children's needs" appropriately.

In July 2022, the Department received another report of domestic violence between mother and father. Father entered the home and was arrested for violating the protective order. The Department also learned that mother had left E.F. in a car unattended. The Department removed the children on August 1, 2022.^[5] Following removal, the Department determined that mother's mental health was unstable. Before she could be reunified with the children, the Department required her to stabilize her mental health, create a stable home environment free from domestic violence, develop an organizational system to manage appointments, and develop effective parenting strategies to respond to the children's emotional and behavioral needs. The Department required father to address his mental health, anger, and domestic violence, use safe and non-physical disciplinary strategies for the children, and learn effective parenting strategies. To meet these goals, the Department provided mother and father numerous services, including parenting classes, counseling services, home-based counseling services, and protection and preservation support.

Dr. Sonal Pancholi Doran, a forensic neuropsychologist, attempted to perform a parental capacity exam on mother, but mother missed the appointment. Dr. Doran observed mother with the children during supervised parent/child sessions and concluded that mother was unable to manage the children's behaviors. Dr. Doran diagnosed mother with Depressive Disorder, ADHD, and Borderline Personality Disorder, and recommended that she receive mental health treatment and parenting education.

Dr. Doran completed a parental capacity examination on father. Dr. Doran had "grave concerns" about father's parenting skills, based on the history of physical abuse and father's reliance on corporal punishment. Father also missed appointments and failed to complete tasks. Based on father's refusal to take accountability for his actions, Dr. Doran found that he was "still functioning in the same manner that he was at the time the kids were removed." Dr. Doran concluded that while in his care, the children would be exposed "to volatile, unstable relationships," as well as "ongoing domestic violence."

Dr. James Steg, a psychiatrist, completed a psychiatric evaluation of mother. Dr. Steg prescribed mother with antidepressants, but she did not regularly comply with the medication management and her mood and behavior continually deteriorated. Mother missed several regularly scheduled appointments. After the Department removed the children, mother missed the next four appointments. When mother finally returned, she informed Dr. Steg that she had stopped taking her medications and injured herself. Dr. Steg opined that mother needed more progress to meet the Department's goals. Dr. Steg also performed a psychiatric evaluation on father. Dr. Steg recommended that father continue with domestic violence therapy, individual therapy, and anger management classes.

Both mother and father made some progress in their foster care goals. Mother engaged in some of the therapy sessions, psychiatric appointments, and supervised visitations. Mother initially complied with medication management but later stopped taking her medicine for a period. In September 2022, mother attempted suicide, which led to an inpatient hospitalization. Father completed the Anger and Domestic Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program (ADAPT), participated in outpatient therapy and father engagement sessions, and attended supervised visitations.

Still, the Department determined that neither parent had demonstrated "the ability to make healthy decisions and choices that affect the safety, wellbeing, and permanency of the children." The Department changed the foster care goal to adoption. A "significant factor" in the Department's change of goals was mother and father's decision to reunite in June 2023, after previously denying that intention.^[6] The Department had told mother and father that it would change the foster care goal to adoption if they sought to reunite. J.N. and N.M. had conveyed at that time that they did not feel safe living with father.

During their reunification, both mother and father made allegations of domestic violence against each other. Their participation in services also declined. Mother began having difficulties preparing for some of her visits, was late to some appointments, and spent much of the home-based counseling sessions discussing concerns about father. Mother also presented significant mental health symptoms; she spent three weeks receiving inpatient care, during which she was unable to see the children or participate in any services. Mother's employment was also unstable. She had moved in with her sister because she could not pay her bills and had no electricity in her home. The Department concluded that "despite several years of services, the issues that brought the children into foster care [were] still present and impacting [mother's] ability to be a safe, stable, and permanent caregiver for the children."

For his part, father struggled to supervise his children and continued to rely on physical violence, requiring the Department's intervention during supervised visitations to protect the children. Father hid his intention to reunite with mother from the Department, and continued to inflict violence against mother, even after he completed the program.

After years of providing services, in 2024, the Department determined that mother and father had failed to address the underlying issues that led to the initial intervention. Based on continued...