In the Int. of: A.M., Appeal of: BCCYSSA

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 7, 2021
Docket2078 EDA 2020
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Int. of: A.M., Appeal of: BCCYSSA (In the Int. of: A.M., Appeal of: BCCYSSA) 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 the Int. of: A.M., Appeal of: BCCYSSA, (Pa. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

J-S12016-21

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN THE INTEREST OF: A.M., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: BUCKS COUNTY : CHILDREN AND YOUTH SOCIAL : SERVICES AGENCY : : : No. 2078 EDA 2020

Appeal from the Order Entered October 30, 2020 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-09-DP-0000156-2018

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., NICHOLS, J., and MUSMANNO, J.

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED JULY 07, 2021

Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services (CYS) appeals from

the order, entered pursuant 42 Pa.C.S. § 6351, and directing CYS to engage

and pay for the services of a life care planner for A.M. (Child),1 the son of D.M.

(Father) and J.M. (Mother). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Subsequent to the filing of a dependency petition on September 20,

2018, the trial court adjudicated Child dependent on October 10, 2018, and

placed him in the legal and physical custody of CYS.2 See Order of

____________________________________________

1 Child was born in March of 2009.

2 Upon review, CYS had been involved with the family since 2017 due to issues

of substance abuse and domestic violence. See Order of Adjudication & Disposition, Findings of Fact, 10/10/18, at ¶ h; see also Dependency Pet., 9/20/18, at ¶ h. J-S12016-21

Adjudication & Disposition, 10/10/18. Child was placed with Woods Services,

a residential facility. Id. at ¶ 11(c). As noted by the trial court, Child

suffer[s] from cognitive impairment, cerebral palsy, and severe developmental delays[, and] lacks the ability to perform many daily life activities, including the ability to use a toilet, the ability to feed himself, and the ability to speak. [Child] currently requires full-time care at Woods Services, a twenty-four[-]hour facility for children with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

Trial Ct. Op., 12/10/20, at 1-2; see also N.T., 10/14/20, at 4-5, 11-12; Order

of Adjudication & Disposition, Findings of Fact, 10/10/18, at ¶ a.

On October 14, 2020, the trial court held a status review hearing.

Mother and Father appeared with their respective counsel. Child was

represented by a guardian ad litem.3 At the time of the hearing, Child

remained in CYS’s legal and physical custody of remained with Woods

Services,4 and the goal was reunification with a concurrent plan for adoption.

See Permanency Review Order, 6/30/20.

During the hearing, Father stated that “[e]verything is good in life right

now,” that he and Mother were approaching one year of sobriety, and that he

was working full-time. N.T., 10/14/20, at 4-5. Father continued that he and

Mother:

3 We observe that the guardian ad litem submitted a brief to this Court in favor

of the court’s order engaging a life care planner.

4 We note that while it appears that Child has remained with Woods Services

throughout the dependency proceedings, some of the motions for permanency review and permanency review orders refer to foster care.

-2- J-S12016-21

had a bit of a concern. I mean, we both want him to come home, but we’re not really sure if that is, like, maybe the best decision right now for where we’re at. We have to get all the services put in place. And not that he’s a burden, but he needs 24-hour care. ...

Id. at 5.

Mother described difficulties in communicating with Woods Services. Id.

at 8. Specifically, Mother noted that she called the facility twice “to try to

figure out funding for that[,]” apparently referring to funding for Woods

Services. Id.

The trial court then engaged in a discussion with the CYS case worker

about funding, noting that it would not return Child to Parents until the court

was “comfortable that [Parents] have the funding in place to care for [Child].”

Id. at 10. After hearing that Woods Services cost approximately $400 per

day, the trial court engaged in the following exchange with CYS’s counsel:

THE COURT: Is there a cerebral palsy foundation to reach out to for grants to the family to help relieve some financial burden?

I’m going to require, before I make a decision with regard to returning [Child], as to whether or not they can financially take care of [Child] through grants, fundings, programs, [CYS] will be able to do it.

[CYS’s Counsel]: Your Honor, if I may, and I don’t know whether this would be a problem in getting funding, but I am aware that [Child] has received a settlement at some point in time in the past that is quite substantial I believe either upwards of over a million dollars. It’s in a trust fund for him.

THE COURT: Let’s assume that to be correct, he can’t touch it till he’s 18 years old.

[CYS’s Counsel]: There is an institutional --

THE COURT: Called a special needs trust.

-3- J-S12016-21

[CYS’s Counsel]: There’s an institutional trustee who --

THE COURT: A special needs trust the child has no right to use the money except for a limited basis based on what was set up with the special needs trust. I’ve done hundreds of these as a practitioner.

[CYS’s Counsel]: I’m not suggesting that isn’t the case, Your Honor. I’m suggesting that there may be some difficulty in with the parents, who we hope are able to get funding and get [Child] home.

THE COURT: Parents can’t get a dime. Parents on a special needs trust cannot get a dime, and that’s why they appointed independent trustees to manage the money.

[CYS’s Counsel]: I’m not suggesting they can, Your Honor. What I’m saying is there may be some difficulty with them getting funding because of the existence of that trust.

* * *

[CYS’s Counsel]: . . . I wonder if, [the CYS case worker], could you tell what [CYS] has done to try to locate possible financial assistance for the parents if and when [Child] goes home?

THE COURT: You don’t have to tell me now. You have to tell me, when you’re trying to move this child back home or the parents - - I thought I said this earlier -- trying to get [Child] back home.

I’m going to want evidence bringing in fund managers, et cetera, explaining what they can do to provide financing that would be sufficient for [Child] to be wherever it is that you I are trying to do. I don’t need it now.

I’m making that directive pretty clear. If the parents want to move [Child] back to their home, they have a right to make that motion. And I will take into consideration all the evidence that they present as to how they’re going to fund [Child].

Because as we always know, it’s always about do they have the ability to be able to provide for [Child]. This is a child that’s going to have million[s] of dollars over the course of his lifetime.

Also, to give both of you a heads up as to what you should probably be doing, you should probably get a life care planner and

-4- J-S12016-21

have that person do a study. In fact, I’m going to order the [CYS] to do it.

They are to get a life care planner, which is an expert in projecting costs for future life expectancies of children and have them do a complete report projecting over the course of [Child’s] life.

They review the medical records, they talk to the physicians, they talk to the therapists, they come with a plan saying they need X number of dollars a day so many days a year. When they get older, these things are going to happen, and they can project your plan as to what it would cost over the lifetime of [Child].

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Tameka M.
580 A.2d 750 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1990)
Dilliplaine v. Lehigh Valley Trust Co.
322 A.2d 114 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
In the Interest of: A.W., JR., a Minor
187 A.3d 247 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2018)
In the Int. of: L v. Appeal of: J.H.
209 A.3d 399 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)
In re: J.R.
875 A.2d 1111 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
In the Int. of: J.M., Appeal of: L.M.-M.
2019 Pa. Super. 280 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
In the Int. of: A.M., Appeal of: BCCYSSA, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-int-of-am-appeal-of-bccyssa-pasuperct-2021.