In re Langston F.

36 Misc. 3d 837
CourtNew York City Family Court
DecidedJuly 13, 2012
StatusPublished

This text of 36 Misc. 3d 837 (In re Langston F.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York City Family Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Langston F., 36 Misc. 3d 837 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

John M. Hunt, J.

I

This case raises the issue of whether the court has jurisdiction to hear a petition filed by the Office of Children and Family Services which seeks to extend the placement of an adjudicated juvenile delinquent who is now 19 years old and who objects to any further extension of his placement.

By petition filed pursuant to Family Court Act'§ 310.1 on January 10, 2007 respondent, who was born on February 5, 1993, was alleged to have committed acts which, were he an adult, would constitute the crimes of attempted criminal sexual act in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 130.50 [3]) and attempted sexual abuse in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 130.65 [3]). The respondent’s four-year-old brother was the alleged victim of the incidents charged in the petition.

On February 6, 2007 respondent entered an admission that he committed an act which, were he an adult, would have constituted the crime of attempted sexual abuse in the first degree. Following a dispositional hearing and by order dated May 3, 2007, respondent was adjudicated to be a juvenile delinquent (Family Ct Act § 352.1 [1]), and he was placed in the custody of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) for a period of 18 months (with a minimum period of six months’ confinement in a residential facility), with the direction that OCFS place respondent in the custody of Children’s Village, an authorized agency within the meaning of Social Services Law § 371 (10) (Family Ct Act §§ 352.2 [1] [c]; 353.3 [1], [3], [4], [9]).1 The order of disposition further directed that OCFS and the authorized agency were to provide respondent with sex offender treatment as well as all services which were recommended by mental health professionals who had previously examined him.

On April 8, 2008 OCFS filed a permanency petition concerning the respondent’s placement in accordance with Family Court [839]*839Act § 355.5 (3) (a).2 By order dated May 9, 2008 the court approved the agency’s permanency plan for the respondent who was then 15 years old, and respondent’s placement in the custody of OCFS was continued (Family Ct Act § 355.5 [9]).

A petition seeking an extension of respondent’s placement and a petition for a permanency hearing were filed by OCFS on September 9, 2008. By order dated November 12, 2008 the Family Court (Stephen J. Bogacz, J.) granted the petition to extend respondent’s placement with OCFS for 12 months (Family Ct Act §§ 353.3 [7]; 355.3 [4]), and the court further approved of the agency’s permanency plan for the respondent (Family Ct Act § 355.5 [7]). In the order extending respondent’s placement and approving the permanency plan, the court stated, inter alia, that “return of the respondent to the home would be contrary to the best interests of the respondent because the respondent’s victim still lives in the home that [he] would return to, [and] respondent has not completed sex offender treatment.”

A second petition requesting an extension of respondent’s placement and a third permanency petition were filed by OCFS on August 20, 2009, and by order dated November 12, 2009 this court extended respondent’s placement with OCFS upon his consent for an additional 12 months. At the time that the order was issued the respondent was placed at the OCFS facility at Highland and he was 16 years old. In granting the extension of placement and the permanency petitions the court found that OCFS has exercised reasonable efforts to achieve permanency for the respondent. Specifically, the court determined that respondent was continuing to receive appropriate services and therapy from OCFS and that he would also be enrolled in programs to facilitate his transition to independent living, as there was no alternative living arrangement available to him (Family Ct Act § 355.5 [7] [a], [b]).

[840]*840On October 22, 2010 OCFS filed a third petition seeking extension of respondent’s placement and a fourth permanency hearing petition. Following proceedings upon these petitions, the court issued an order dated November 15, 2010 which extended respondent’s placement with OCFS until May 5, 2011. At the time that this order was issued, respondent was 17 years old, and was placed at the Martin De Forres Group Home, where he continued to receive therapy and counseling, he was enrolled in the agency’s independent living transition program, and he was successfully attending high school at the Martin De Forres High School in Rosedale. In extending respondent’s placement with OCFS until May 15, 2011 upon his consent, the court determined that OCFS had continued to exercise reasonable efforts to achieve the permanency goal of release to independent living, as reflected in a November 15, 2011 report from the caseworker assigned to respondent at Martin De Forres Group Home.

According to the caseworker, arrangements were being made for respondent to be placed with the New York City Administration for Children’s Services after his placement with OCFS terminated, “in order to continue his preparation for independent living.” Indeed, the caseworker indicated that respondent would be afforded the “unique opportunity to remain with our program beyond his OCFS commitment and up to the time he is 21 years of age or is prepared for independent living.” To that end, Martin De Forres personnel had facilitated a “supportive relationship” between Langston and his adoptive mother, although there was no plan for him to resume living with her and his younger brother (the victim in the underlying juvenile delinquency case), whom the adoptive mother described as “being ‘mentally disturbed.’ ” Additionally, the agency had enrolled Langston in a program known as “Bridges to Health” which is intended to facilitate respondent’s ultimate transition to independent living by providing him with a network of support services that would continue up until he turned 21 years of age.3

On April 28, 2011 OCFS filed a fourth petition seeking to extend respondent’s placement as well as a fifth permanency [841]*841petition. Following proceedings upon these petitions, and upon the consent of the respondent, by order dated May 23, 2011, respondent’s placement with OCFS was extended until July 22, 2011, and the court found that OCFS was continuing to exercise reasonable efforts to achieve the permanency goal of discharging Langston to independent living. Reports submitted to the court by Martin De Forres personnel indicated some deterioration in respondent’s progress towards independent living. Specifically, Langston’s caseworker at the agency indicated that his participation in services offered by the agency was “variable” and the agency was concerned that respondent, who was then 18 years old, “lacks the emotional and social skills [necessary] to develop healthy relationships with members of the community, such that will keep him insulated from harm and reduce his chances of becoming homeless.”

The caseworker from Martin De Forres stated that the agency was exploring the option of placing the respondent in the custody of the State Office of Mental Health (OMH) for placement in an OMH managed independent living facility based upon the agency’s belief that Langston was not prepared to be discharged into the community to live on his own. In order to achieve this arrangement, the agency requested that the court extend respondent’s placement with OCFS for two months.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
36 Misc. 3d 837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-langston-f-nycfamct-2012.