In the Int. of: M.H., Appeal of: T.F.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 29, 2025
Docket386 EDA 2025
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Int. of: M.H., Appeal of: T.F. (In the Int. of: M.H., Appeal of: T.F.) 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: M.H., Appeal of: T.F., (Pa. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

J-S23043-25

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

IN THE INTEREST OF: M.H., III, A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: T.F., MOTHER : : : : : No. 386 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Entered March 3, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-51-DP-0000714-2018

IN THE INTEREST OF: M.H., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: T.F., MOTHER : : : : : No. 387 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Decree Entered January 24, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-51-AP-0000416-2024

IN THE INTEREST OF: A.H., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: T.F., MOTHER : : : : : No. 388 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Order Entered March 3, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-51-DP-0000601-2021 J-S23043-25

IN THE INTEREST OF: B.G.B., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: T.H.-F., MOTHER : : : : : No. 389 EDA 2025

Appeal from the Decree Entered January 24, 2025 In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County Juvenile Division at No(s): CP-51-AP-0000281-2023

BEFORE: STABILE, J., MURRAY, J., and SULLIVAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY SULLIVAN, J.: FILED AUGUST 29, 2025

T.H.-F. (“Mother”) appeals from the decrees involuntarily terminating

her parental rights to M.H., III, a/k/a M.H. (born in December of 2014)

(“M.H.”), and daughter, A.H. a/k/a B.G.B. (born in June of 2021) (“A.H.”)

(collectively, “the Children”),1 and from the orders changing the permanency

placement goals from reunification to adoption. Because the record supports

the trial court’s finding that Mother’s unremedied and repeated and continued

incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal has caused the Children to be without

essential parental care, and, further, the evidence of record demonstrates that

involuntary termination of Mother’s parental rights is in the Children’s best

____________________________________________

1 The trial court also involuntarily terminated the parental rights of the Children’s father, M.H., Jr. (“Father”). In addition, with respect to A.H., the court terminated the parental rights of any unknown father. Neither Father nor any unknown father have filed appeals from the decrees or goal change orders.

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interests, we affirm the decrees and dismiss the appeals from the permanency

review orders as moot.

The factual and procedural history of this case is as follows. Mother has

a long history of addiction to phencyclidine (“PCP”) and behavior that has been

described as “bizarre and erratic.” N.T., 11/14/24, at 75-76; see also Trial

Ct. Op., 4/22/25, at 4.

M.H.’s dependency arose from a report received by the Philadelphia

Department of Human Services (“DHS”) in September 2019, alleging that

Mother brought M.H. to Temple University Hospital for a head injury. See

N.T., 11/14/24, at 11. There is no indication in the record regarding the

severity of the child’s injury; however, the report alleged that Mother was

observed by hospital staff to be “under the influence.” Id. Upon investigation,

the report was indicated, and the court placed M.H. in the protective custody

of DHS on October 23, 2019. See Trial Ct. Op., 4/22/25, at 5 (internal citation

omitted). Following a hearing, the court adjudicated M.H. dependent on

November 26, 2019, and it made reunification his placement goal. See id. at

5-6.

DHS assigned Mother single case plan objectives. The objectives

included, inter alia, obtaining a mental health assessment and complying with

any recommended treatment; complying with medication management;

obtaining any recommended drug and alcohol treatment; attending random

drug screens at the Clinical Evaluation Unit (“CEU”); and participating in

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supervised visitation. See Trial Ct. Op., 4/22/25, at 5; see also N.T.,

11/14/24, at 15. The court eventually modified Mother’s supervised visitation

with M.H. ordering the visitation to occur at M.H.’s discretion, due to his

insistence on not seeing Mother. See N.T., 11/14/24, at 22, 24-25. Mother

was also required to maintain stable housing. See id. at 15.

M.H. remained in foster care at the time of A.H.’s birth in June 2021.

A.H. was born with PCP in her system. See id. at 6. She was placed in DHS’s

protective custody upon her discharge from the hospital. See id. at 9. The

court adjudicated A.H. dependent in July 2021, and it likewise made

reunification her permanency placement goal.

In October 2024, DHS filed petitions to change the Children’s

permanency placement goals from reunification to adoption and for the

involuntary termination of Mother’s and Father’s parental rights to the

Children.

By the time of these filings, Mother, who had not participated in mental

health and drug and alcohol treatment for years, had resumed attending

mental health and drug and alcohol treatment for approximately six months.

See N.T., 11/14/24, at 18, 21. Additionally, Mother had not participated in

any random drug screens at the CEU in 2024, despite the court consistently

ordering the screens. See id. at 20, 43-44. Prior to 2024, the CEU had

rejected two of Mother’s urine screens, one for being “cold” and the other

“diluted.” Id. at 20. Other than these two drug screens, the record suggests

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that Mother did not attend any other random screens at the CEU throughout

the Children’s dependency cases. See id. at 53-54.

Mother’s last two supervised visits with M.H. occurred in June and

September 2024. See id. at 22, 24. Mother attended less than fifty percent

of the weekly visits offered with A.H. See id. at 53.

The trial court held hearings on the goal change and involuntary

termination petitions in November 2024, December 2024, and January 2025.

The Children’s best interests were represented by counsel, and their legal

interests were represented throughout the proceedings by separate counsel.

See N.T., 11/14/24, at 4 (noting the presence of each attorney for the

hearing).2

The hearings in this matter spanned multiple days in part due to

Mother’s request for a continuance on the second day to obtain treatment

plans and progress reports.3 Across the multiple hearings, the trial court

heard testimony from CUA caseworker Silvine Belzince (“Ms. Belzince”) and

Mother.

Ms. Belzince testified to the facts summarized above, and Mother also

presented testimony by Ms. Belzince, who confirmed that Mother signed

releases for the CUA to obtain documentation from the Wedge, and that she

2 See 23 Pa.C.S.A. 2313(a); In re Adoption of K.M.G., 240 A.3d 1218, 1236

(Pa. 2020).

3 See N.T., 12/4/24, at 6.

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received the documents. See N.T., 1/24/25, at 14.4 Mother concluded her

case by testifying on her own behalf that, inter alia, she began drug and

alcohol treatment with the Wedge in March or April 2024, and that she

attended three times per week. See id. at 23, 33.5

The court issued orders changing the Children’s permanency placement

goals from reunification to adoption and decrees involuntarily terminating

Mother’s parental rights to the Children pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S.A.

§ 2511(a)(1),(2), (5), (8), and (b).

On February 13, 2025, Mother filed notices of appeal from the goal

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