Chains used in the chaining of the Miller children were displayed in July 2011 at the Jail and Justice Center. - Herald file photo

Now that District Judge Fred Wellmann has terminated the parental rights of the Dexter couple who chained one of their two sons to his crib, the big question is what happens to the children.

The boys, now 6 and 9 — sons of Brian and Charity Miller, 34 and 27, respectively — are in the immediate foster care of Mower County Human Services through a foster home. According to Wellmann’s ruling, custody of the children will be transferred to the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Service for adoption, and the court will review the boys’ living arrangements in 90 days and every 90 days after that until they are adopted.

“The next step would be to find permanency for these children,” said Todd Schoonover, the boys’ guardian ad-litem.

If the boys are adopted, it will be a closed adoption, which means the Millers will have no visitation rights with the boys, according to Schoonover. Social Services and a therapist will decide whether the Millers have a goodbye visit with the boys.

According to Schoonover, three groups will have to work together to make the best decision for the boys’ living arrangements, including social services, the Guardian ad-Litem program and the Cherokee Tribe. The children could find themselves in the custody of a Cherokee family or tribe, as the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act has applied throughout this case because Charity and one of the boys are members of that tribe.

“We respect the Indian rights and we respect the wishes of the tribe, so that’s going to be very important,” Schoonover said.

While the Millers and their boys could have been reunited under stipulations in the Indian Child Welfare Act, Wellmann’s ruling showed that Mower County Human Services put forth active efforts to reunify an Indian family; however, the Millers did not comply with those efforts.

Throughout the last year, Human Services did not seek potential families to care for the children, as everything was dependent upon Wellmann’s ruling.

“We have no idea yet,” Schoonover said about where the children may go. “You really can’t start talking about that until the judge makes a decision.”

Regardless, Schoonover is happy with the court decision. He said the boys are now better off with their parents’ rights terminated.

“What was best for the boys happened,” he said. “And the court system did the right thing. These boys are going to have a bright future and it proves that the system works.”

— Amanda Lillie contributed to this report.