IMO, the child deserves, and should be entitled, to grow up as far away from this man as possible, even if that means a new foster family. IMO, she should have no contact with JM at all, to give her a chance to grow up with the least impact of him on her life.
It's bad enough that she knows she's related genetically to this career criminal, and will have to deal with that for her entire life. There is nothing about this man, his history, his many, many crimes (including violent crimes), his incarcerations that equal 1/3 of his life, and his unsavory friends and associates, that is conducive to him raising, or even being around, any children, IMO. The contribution of his genetic material to this child in no way over rides all of his many, many flaws as a parent, citizen, and human being.
I'm also aware that social workers sometimes make very serious mistakes in judgment, sometimes fatal mistakes, where the safety and best interests of children are concerned. The media is replete with stories of social workers giving lots of second, third, and 4th chances to parents with very bad criminal histories, that culminated in dead children.
IMO, he is entitled to reform his own life, to do the best he can to start over and try to live a decent, law abiding life that doesn't include crime, drugs, guns, or violence. That entitlement doesn't extend to screwing up a child's life that he hadn't seen since she was an infant.
There is no way any reasonable, sane, or intelligent person can defend this criminal's lifelong history of antisocial behavior, neglect, and abandonment, as even remotely deserving of another chance to "play daddy." It's sick and appalling that a child has been sacrificed that way, IMO. There is no defense of that, which subsequent courts have made clear. Judge Andy Jackson made the wrong decision about this child, period end.
I'm confident there will soon be more legal rulings to remove the child from the home of that man. Before something even more awful happens to her. Anyone who defends this man as a fit father is a fool, IMO.