In re A.K.

936 A.2d 528, 2007 Pa. Super. 321, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3551
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 29, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by127 cases

This text of 936 A.2d 528 (In re A.K.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re A.K., 936 A.2d 528, 2007 Pa. Super. 321, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3551 (Pa. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION BY

McCAFFERY, J.:

¶ 1 Appellant, C.P.K. (“Father”), appeals from the trial court’s orders changing the placement goal for his dependent twin daughters to adoption.1 Father asks us to determine whether the trial court erred in granting the placement goal change when Father, although incarcerated, had made substantial progress toward his permanency plan goals and had an emotional bond with his children. Following careful review, we affirm.

¶ 2 The facts and procedural history of the instant case have previously been summarized by this Court as follows:

On June 4, 2004, A.K. and L.K., who were both born [prematurely on February 4, 2004,] were placed on an emergency basis with the Cumberland County Children and Youth Services (the Agency) because of suspected physical abuse. Over the months that followed, several hearings were conducted before the dependency master. On January 12, [531]*5312005, the trial court approved the master’s report and adopted his recommendations that: (1) the children were abused; (2) they were dependent; (3) Father perpetrated the abuse; (4) Mother was responsible for the abuse by omissions; and (5) aggravated circumstances existed as to both parents.
Both Mother and Father appealed the trial court’s dependency adjudication. ... This Court affirmed the trial court’s dependency adjudications in an unpublished memorandum. In re A.K. and L.K., 894 A.2d 828 (Pa.Super.2005).
Both parents were eventually convicted of child endangerment charges in connection with [the children’s injuries]. Mother received an aggregate term of four to twelve months of incarceration. ... Father was sentenced to serve an aggregate term of three to ten years of imprisonment in a state correctional institution. On November 30, 2005, a permanency hearing was held, and at its conclusion, the [placement] goal with regard to each child was changed from reunification to adoption. At this hearing, Father continued to deny that he intentionally harmed the girls. According to Father, he admitted causing their injuries, but stated that he had fallen while holding them or that he played a little too “rough” with them. Mother maintained that she believed Father’s explanation for the injuries, although, in hindsight, she should have taken the girls for treatment.

In re A.K., 906 A.2d 596, 598-99 (Pa.Super.2006) (footnote added).

¶3 Mother and Father appealed the goal change to adoption, arguing that the trial court erred in granting the change when the parents had completed all or nearly all of their permanency plan and in failing to consider the parent-child bond. Id. at 599. In an opinion filed on August 17, 2006, this Court reversed, concluding, inter alia, that review of the record did “not support the trial court’s conclusion that progress toward ‘alleviating the circumstances which necessitated the original placement’ [had] not been made.” Id. at 600. More specifically, the reasoning of the panel was as follows:

Both parents accepted responsibility for their actions or inactions by pleading guilty to the child endangerment charges. While Father maintained that he did not intentionally harm his children and the court chose to disbelieve him, we note that Father has been sent to prison for three to ten years. He does not pose, therefore, a continuing threat to them.... Mother testified that, although she believed Father’s explanations at the time of the injuries, in hindsight, she should have taken the girls to the hospital for treatment. Additionally, Mother testified that, if the children were returned to her, she would comply with any conditions that the Agency would require, even ceasing contact with Father if need be.
Because we conclude that the trial court erred in assigning the parents’] failure to admit that they intentionally abused their children determinative weight, we [532]*532reverse the order of the trial court and reinstate the goal of reunification. As to the other factors pertinent to a permanency review, the trial court found that Mother was successful in meeting the requirements of her permanency plan. Moreover, those who observed Mother’s interaction with her children testified at previous hearings that her parenting skills were completely appropriate and that a parental bond was evident. Finally, it is undisputed that Mother has been released from prison and has a support system in place to assist her in raising her children. Thus, the record supports the conclusion that the Agency should continue efforts to reunite her with them.

Id. at 600-01 (internal citations omitted) (emphasis added).

¶ 4 After reversal and remand, the next permanency hearing was held on November 29, 2006. Prior to this hearing and via testimony at the hearing, Mother made clear that she had decided to relinquish her parental rights to her daughters and to allow them to be adopted because she was unable to give the children what they need. (Notes of Testimony (“N.T.”), 11/29/06, at 27-30). Immediately following the hearing, the trial court again changed the children’s placement goal to adoption. As the trial court explained, “[t]he driving force behind the goal change was [M]other’s desire to have the children adopted by the foster parents with whom they have lived for the vast majority of their fives.” (Trial Court Opinion, dated February 26, 2007, at 3).

¶ 5 Father has now appealed the goal change to adoption, raising the following five issues for our review:

I.Whether the trial court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law in changing the goals of the children from reunification with Father to adoption after the Superior Court reversed the prior goal change to adoption under the facts of the case reported in In The Matter of A.K. and L.K., 906 A.2d 596 (Pa.Super.2006).
II. Whether the trial court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law in finding that Father is not “in compliance with his permanency plan” in its January 9, 2007 order contrary to the finding of fact made by it previously on November 30, 2005 in In The Matter of A.K. and L.K., 906 A.2d 596 (Pa.Super.2006).
III. Whether the trial court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law by stating in its January 9, 2007 order that Father is not “making progress in alleviating the circumstances which necessitated the placement” when the Superior Court previously reversed the trial court on this same point in In The Matter of A.K. and L.K., 906 A.2d 596 (Pa.Super.2006) on [August 17,] 2006.
IV. Whether the trial court abused its discretion and erred as a matter of law in changing the children’s goals from reunification without considering the existing bonds between Father and the children prior to changing the goals.
V.

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Bluebook (online)
936 A.2d 528, 2007 Pa. Super. 321, 2007 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ak-pasuperct-2007.