In re H.B.

24 Pa. D. & C.5th 330
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County
DecidedMay 18, 2011
DocketNo. CP-36-DP-172-2009
StatusPublished

This text of 24 Pa. D. & C.5th 330 (In re H.B.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re H.B., 24 Pa. D. & C.5th 330 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2011).

Opinion

GORBEY, J.,

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

T.B., Jr.1, born January 28, 1998, H.B., born March 10, [332]*3322007, T.B., born November 11, 2000 and S., bom May 11, 1994, are the children of T. B., Sr., (father) and P. G. (mother). The family first came to the attention of the Children and Youth Social Service Agency (agency) on November 3, 2008 when the agency learned that Mr. B. and his oldest son, M. were using marijuana in the house and that mother had been arrested for selling drugs to an undercover policeman. There was reportedly no gas, no heat and no food in the house. The agency provided services and mother and father signed a Family Service Plan on March 17, 2009. Then, unknown to the agency, the family was evicted on September 3, 2009 for nonpayment of rent. The agency learned of the eviction on September 29,2009, when father went to the Water Street Mission with the three youngest children to seek shelter, father tested positive for cocaine and marijuana and was refused shelter. The Mission informed the agency which started a successful search for father and the children, who had been living in father’s car and then in an inappropriate house since the eviction. The agency learned also that mother had been jailed earlier in the month pursuant to her prior arrest. On November 25, 2009, after an adjudication and disposition hearing, the children were found to be dependent. S., the oldest child, came into care on July 27, 2010. She had given birth to a child on June 28, 2009, and had lived with the baby and its father in the paternal grandmother’s home since then. The baby now lives with his father.

The younger children remained in foster care from [333]*333September 2009 until April 30, 2010, when father completed the requirements of the Family Service Plan and the children were released to him. He had been successfully discharged from a drug and alcohol program on December 4, 2009, and had successfully completed a parenting class on March 16, 2010 and had full time employment. (N.T. 23, 10/25/10) On May 7, 2010, the court ordered termination of court supervision and the three children were found to be not dependent.

The situation changed four months later when father tested positive for cocaine and alcohol and the children were re-placed in care on July 27, 2010. (N.T. 11, 10/25/10) On August 23, 2010, a CASA was appointed by the court. Father disputed the validity of the test, contending that the urine tested had not been his, and on October 27, 2010 the court directed that regular random testing be done as well as testing before each visit.

Father did not show up for any of the five requests for random testing. (N.T. 17-18, 10/25/10) At the time of an adjudication/disposition hearing on August 30, 2010, mother, who had been incarcerated from September 25, 2009 until August 18,2010, was at Quehanna Boot Camp in Reading, PA, which was part of an adapt program which also provided a halfway house with relevant services. (N.T. 3, 8/25/2011). Residing in the half-way house on October 25, 2010, mother was present in court. (N.T. 32,10/25/2010) mother and father intended to live together after her release. (N.T. 29, 10/25/2010).

[334]*334After the October 25, 2010 hearing, the three younger children remained in foster care. (N.T. 32, 10/25/2010). Maternal grandmother was a resource for 16-year old S., who stayed at the Youth Intervention Center until her grandmother was qualified as a foster parent. (N.T. 30, 10/25/2010). The Plans for both parents were reestablished, including drug, alcohol, mental health, parenting, and daily needs issues. (N.T. 33, 10/25/2010). It had been recommended that father attend NA and AA. He reported that he was attending meetings, but presented no documentation. (N.T. 30-31, 8/21/2011).

His housing was not appropriate for children. Prior to the March 21, 2011 hearing, S. decided to leave her grandmother and come back to Lancaster county to be with father. She again went into care.

Except for H., the children were adjusting well to their new foster homes. H. had problems when she was placed in the same foster home with T. and T. because she was acting out and getting more attention to the detriment of the older children. In the new home, severe behavioral problems began. The CASA in the case noted that H. had violent and frequent temper tantrums. She urinated in inappropriate places out of hostility. She destroyed property, attacked her siblings, and displayed disassociative behavior. She had a tentative diagnosis of reactive attachment disorder and was placed in a separate home, where her behavior responded well to a different parenting style. The children see each other at a bi-weekly visitation. (N.T. 10, 3/21/2011)

[335]*335The agency did not recommend a goal change, but a Coby’s caseworker and the children’s guardian ad litem wanted a change of goal to adoption, because they both believed that the children need permanency and stability.

ISSUE

Whether a change of goal is appropriate for four children in a situation in which a mother was unavailable because of incarceration for selling drugs, and the father was unable to refrain from drug use, maintain an adequate home and resources for his three children, and the oldest child, a teenager, had given birth to a baby in June of 2009 and did not have a stable residence with either her family or her baby’s father.

ANALYSIS

A dependent child is:

One who is without proper care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for his physical, mental or emotion health, or morals. A determination that there is a lack of proper parental care or control may be based upon evidence of conduct by the parent, guardian or other custodian that places the health, safety or welfare of the child at risk, including evidence of the parent’s, guardian’s or other custodian’s use of alcohol or a controlled substance that places the health, safety or welfare of the child at risk. 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302

Given the facts of this case, which include mother’s two [336]*336year incarceration, and father’s drug use and homelessness and living with his children in his car, it is clear to the court that the B. children are dependent children. Once that has been decided, at a subsequent permanency review hearings, the court must consider the statutorily mandated factors of 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6351(f). These are:

1. [To] determine the continuing necessity for and appropriateness of the placement;
2. [To] determine the appropriateness, feasibility and extent of compliance with the permanency plan developed for the child;
3. [To] determine the extent of progress made toward alleviating the circumstances which necessitated the original placement;
4. [To] determine the appropriateness and feasibility of the current placement goal for the child;
5. [To] project a likely date by which the goal for the child might be achieved;

And, further,

9.

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Related

In Re Adoption of R.J.S.
901 A.2d 502 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
In re J.S.W.
651 A.2d 167 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1994)
In the Interest of C.B.
861 A.2d 287 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)
In re N.C.
909 A.2d 818 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
24 Pa. D. & C.5th 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-hb-pactcompllancas-2011.