In the Int. of: K.J.M., Appeal of: J.R.H.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 22, 2026
Docket713 WDA 2025
StatusUnpublished
AuthorNichols

This text of In the Int. of: K.J.M., Appeal of: J.R.H. (In the Int. of: K.J.M., Appeal of: J.R.H.) 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: K.J.M., Appeal of: J.R.H., (Pa. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

J-S36018-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

IN THE INTEREST OF: K.J.M., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: J.R.H., MOTHER : : : : : No. 713 WDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Dated May 14, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County Orphans’ Court at No(s): 2024-00045

IN THE INTEREST OF: J.S.H.-M., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: J.R.H., MOTHER : : : : : No. 714 WDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Entered May 13, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County Orphans’ Court at No(s): 2024-00045

IN THE INTEREST OF: C.D.H., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: J.R.H., MOTHER : : : : : No. 715 WDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Entered May 15, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County Orphans’ Court at No(s): 2024-00045 J-S36018-25

BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J.E., NICHOLS, J., and FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.: FILED: January 22, 2026

Appellant J.R.H. (Mother) appeals1 from the order terminating her

parental rights to C.D.H., K.J.H., and J.S.H.-M. (collectively Children). Mother

argues that the Agency failed to establish grounds to terminate Mother’s

parental rights by clear and convincing evidence. We affirm.

The orphans’ court summarized the factual history as follows:

[Father] and [Mother] are the natural parents of three minor children, C.D.H., DOB 6/**/2020; K.J.H., DOB 2/**/2022; and J.S.H.-M., DOB 2/**/2024. The parents have never been married. Father has two other minor children who are twins and who live with Father. Father has raised the twins on his own since the time they were 18 months old. Both are scheduled to graduate from high school in the near future and one of them plans to work for a year and then decide on a long-term plan and the other plans to attend college. The twins have succeeded academically and both work after school. One of the twins also competes in track. The twins appear to be successful and raised well under their Father’s care.

C.D.H. was adjudicated dependent on April 20, 2022 and was placed in [a] foster home. K.J.H. was adjudicated dependent on March 14, 2022 and placed in the [the same foster home as C.D.H.]. Mother was incarcerated in 2022 and released in November of 2022 after resolving charges of simple assault and harassment. It is clear that Mother has struggled with mental health issues and had been attempting to address those issue[s] at one time with Doo Whan Cho, M.D. in late 2022 and early 2023. However Mother’s attempts to address her mental health issues trailed off thereafter and those issues remain un-redressed. The ____________________________________________

* Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court.

1 The orphans’ court denied the petition of Blair County Children Youth and

Families (the Agency) to terminate the parental rights of J.M.M. (Father) within the same order. The Agency filed a separate appeal from the termination order, which we address in a separate memorandum.

-2- J-S36018-25

parties had an on-again, off-again relationship which resulted in the birth of J.S.H.-M. in February of 2024.

A voluntary safety plan was agreed upon by the parties on February 18, 2024 after J.S.H.-M.’s birth when Mother tested positive for non-prescription tricyclics. The plan was for the child to live with his parents with Father to be the primary caretaker and to fully supervise the child. However, an argument between the parents led Father to attempt to evict Mother from the home despite the fact that Mother was nursing J.S.H.-M. This court granted an emergency protective order and J.S.H.-M. was life- flighted to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on suspicion of jaundice and meningitis. J.S.H.-M. was ultimately discharged and placed in [a different foster home than his brothers] and reunification services were provided.

Mother’s mental health issues made clear that she was unfit to care for [] Children. Father testified that this was clear soon after C.D.H. was born when Mother was nominally primarily caring for C.D.H. Even though Father’s paternity was initially in doubt, he testified that neither C.D.H. nor K.J.H. was ever left with Mother unsupervised. Mother was always with Father or Mother’s grandmother when she had the older boys, Father also testified that despite paternity doubts he always treated [] Children as his own.

Reunification services with the parents jointly did not work due to disputes between the parents. The Agency became concerned with Mother’s inability to care for [] Children and Father’s lack of protective instincts and actions as to [] Children with respect to Mother. As explained below, the hearings established that the Agency is also concerned relative to Father’s own parenting skills in regards to protection of [] Children.

Reunification efforts afforded the parents visitation through FICS,[2] Kid’s First, and the Agency itself. In summary, with detail to follow below, reunification with Mother essentially failed. As to Father, reunification efforts remain problematic according to the Agency, despite the fact that all parties appear to agree, as does the court, that Father’s visitations and efforts were more successful.

____________________________________________

2 Family Intervention Crisis Services. See N.T., 1/30/25, at 50; see also In re S.G., 922 A.2d 943, 945 (Pa. Super. 2007).

-3- J-S36018-25

The Agency filed petitions for the termination of parental rights as to both Mother and Father as to all three Children on December 30, 2024. The Agency brings its petition[s] as to C.D.H. and K.J.H. pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 2511(a)(2), (5), (8) and (b) and as to J.S.H.-M. pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 2511(a)(2), (5) and (b). The Agency also filed petitions seeking to change the primary permanency goal from return home to adoption.

Hearings on this case were conducted on January 30, 2025, April 22, 2025, and April 29, 2025.[3] Mother appeared on the first day of this three-day hearing but did not appear on the last two days of hearing. Mother’s counsel attempted to contact Mother on several occasions to no avail. Mother did however file a PFA[4] petition against Father arising out her last contact with Father on March 23, 2025[,] when Father called law enforcement to remove Mother from Father’s home. The temporary PFA Petition was denied and Mother failed to appear for the following PFA hearing, and as such it was dismissed. Father and his current licensed professional counselor, Joanne Butz, opined that Mother had filed the PFA petition to sabotage his present efforts to obtain custody of [] Children. We agree with that contention and give no weight to Mother’s filing of the PFA Petition.

3 Children were represented by Tyler A. Rowles, Esq., who served both as Children’s guardian ad litem (GAL) and as Children’s legal counsel. See Orphans’ Ct. Order, 1/25/25 (appointing Attorney Rowles as both GAL and Children’s legal counsel). In its May 14, 2025 opinion and order, the orphans’ court concluded that Attorney Rowles could serve in both roles because there was no conflict between Children’s best interests and legal interest “especially in light of the tender ages of [] Children.” Orphans’ Ct. Op. & Order, 5/14/25, at 21. We note that the orphans’ court is obligated to determine whether a conflict in dual representation exists prior to appointing counsel. See In re Adoption of K.M.G., 240 A.3d 1218, 1236 (Pa. 2020). However, we decline to elevate form over substance and conclude that the orphans’ court fulfilled its obligation to determine whether a conflict in dual representation existed. See id. at 1235-37; 23 Pa.C.S.

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