In the Interest of K.Z.S.

946 A.2d 753, 2008 Pa. Super. 62, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 269
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 4, 2008
StatusPublished
Cited by1,203 cases

This text of 946 A.2d 753 (In the Interest of K.Z.S.) 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 Interest of K.Z.S., 946 A.2d 753, 2008 Pa. Super. 62, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 269 (Pa. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

OPINION BY

GANTMAN, J.:

¶1 Appellant, C.V.S. (“Mother”), appeals from the order entered in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which terminated her parental rights as to her minor child, K.Z.S. (DOB 5/19/03). Upon a thorough review of the record and the applicable law, we affirm.

¶2 The relevant facts and procedural history of this case are as follows:

[K.Z.S.] was born on May 10, 2003. [K.Z.S.] became known to DHS on May 12, 2003, two days after [K.Z.S.] was born, as a result of a General Protective Services (“GPS”) report alleging that [K.Z.S.] and [Mother] tested positive for cocaine at birth. This report was substantiated. On May 13, 2003, [K.Z.S.] was discharged from the hospital and he and [Mother] began residing with Tracy Craig, a family friend. On May 17, Mother left the home of Ms. Craig with [K.Z.S.] and their whereabouts remained unknown until May 20, 2003. On May 20, 2003, DHS obtained a Restraining Order (“RO”) against Mother and [K.Z.S.] was placed in the home of Ms. Craig.[1] On May 22, 2003, the [court] lifted the RO and temporarily committed [K.Z.S.] to DHS. Then on May 30, 2003, after an adjudicatory hearing, [the court] adjudicated [K.Z.S.] dependant and fully committed him to DHS. [K.Z.S.] remained in the home of Ms. Craig and has continued to remain there up to the present date.
... In January 2004, Mother moved to Baltimore to try to get adequate hous[755]*755ing.... Mother is currently ... living in Baltimore with three of her other children in a transitional housing program for women and children.
Vicky Melvin, Children’s Choice Regional Director, who was the assigned case manager in 2004 from January to June, in 2005 from January until March, and in 2006 from March until June, but was supervising the case the entire time, testified at trial that she was in charge of making sure Mother was completing the goals for her Family Service Plain (FSP) and her Individual Service Plan (ISP). These goals were: (1) Mother to visit consistently, which was twice a month, (2) Mother to complete an outpatient program where she lived, (3) Mother to complete a parenting program, and (4) Mother to obtain suitable housing. Mother was to provide the agency with documentation with completion of all of those goals. Ms. Melvin testified, that prior to the filing of the Petition for Involuntary Termination on January 6, 2005, she had not received any documentation demonstrating compliance of Mother receiving any outpatient services, of Mother completing her parenting classes, or that Mother had located and occupied suitable housing.
Ms. Melvin also testified that Mother was not consistent with her visitations with [K.Z.S.] For the entire visitation period dating from 2003, Ms. Melvin testified that Mother had missed 33 out of 53 scheduled visits, all of which were unexcused.... Ms. Melvin testified further that from the time period January 15, 2004 until March 1, 2005, that Mother did not have any contact with the agency and did not give any reasons for why she was missing the visits. Mother did testify that it was difficult to make the visits because she was living in Baltimore and had problems with transportation because she had no money. However, Ms. Melvin further testified that Mother was instructed that she was responsible for getting to the visits which were in Philadelphia and that Mother did not express to anyone that transportation from Baltimore was a hardship. If Mother would have told the agency that she was having transportation hardships, Ms. Melvin stated that both Children’s Choice and DHS would have made sure that she was provided bus fare to come to the visits in Philadelphia.
Ms. Melvin finally testified that Children’s Choice is in agreement with the permanency plan of a goal change to adoption based on Mother’s non-compliance with consistent visitation as well as not providing the necessary documentation to the agency regarding her drug treatment and parenting programs. She stated, “We are concerned about how long it has taken Mother to complete her goals as well as [K.Z.S.’] bond to the resource parent.” When asked about the relationship between [K.Z.S.] and Ms. Craig, Ms. Melvin stated that “Ms. Craig and [K.Z.S.] are very bonded, she has cared for him for many years, and that he looks at her as his primary caregiver, as a mother figure.”
Amy Bon Giovanni, another Children’s Choice case worker who has been on the case since June of 2006, also testified that Ms. Craig and [K.Z.S.] are very well bonded. She stated ..., “[K.Z.S.] will refer to Ms. Craig as his Mommy. And then he refers to [Mother] by her first name. When I go to pick him up sometimes for visits, he will cling to Ms. Craig and say I don’t want to go see [Mother]. He will say Mommy, I want to stay here with you.” She also later testified that [K.Z.S.] told her ..., “I don’t want to live in Maryland, I don’t want to move there, I want to stay here with my Mommy [referring to Ms. [756]*756Craig].” Even though a bonding evaluation was done by a psychologist, Doctor Elaine Hyman and it stated that [K.Z.S.] was bonded with both Ms. Craig and Mother, Ms. Bon Giovanni stated, in her opinion, it would affect [K.Z.S.] negatively if [he] had to move with Mother to Baltimore. Ms. Bon Giovanni also stated that she was in agreement with DHS position to have the parental rights of Mother terminated. She stated as her reasons for being in agreement ..., “I feel like this [referring to Ms. Craig’s home] has been where [K.Z.S.’] been all his life, this is his family now. I understand that [Mother] has done stuff recently [to improve as a parent], but I feel like it is too late, the child doesn’t understand or look to her as his Mom. His Mommy is [Ms. Craig].”

(Trial Court Opinion, dated September 19, 2007, at 1-5) (internal citations omitted). DHS filed a petition for a goal change to adoption and involuntary termination of Mother’s parental rights on January 6, 2005. The court held hearings on November 3, 2006 and May 21, 2007, and entered an order terminating Mother’s parental rights at the end of the second hearing on May 21, 2007. On June 19, 2007, Mother timely filed a notice of appeal. The court ordered Mother to file a Rule 1925(b) statement of matters complained of on appeal on June 20, 2007, which she timely filed on July 2, 2007.

¶ 3 On appeal, Mother raises the following issue for review:

WHETHER THE TERMINATION OF MOTHER’S PARENTAL RIGHTS WAS SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE, WHERE THE TRIAL RECORD ESTABLISHED MOTHER HAD NOT DEMONSTRATED A SETTLED PURPOSE OF RELINQUISHING HER PARENTAL RIGHTS, HAD NOT WILLFULLY FAILED TO PERFORM HER PARENTAL DUTIES, HAD REMEDIED THE CONDITIONS WHICH LED TO PLACEMENT AND WHERE THE EVIDENCE FURTHER ESTABLISHED THAT TERMINATION WAS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILD?

(Mother’s Brief at 2).

¶ 4 Mother argues she did not demonstrate the neglect or lack of contact required by law to terminate her parental rights. To the contrary, Mother states she has expressed a current and past desire to visit, reunify and contact K.Z.S. Mother also contends she substantially met all of her Family Service Plan Objectives. While Mother acknowledges she missed some visits with K.Z.S., she asserts they were a result of transportation issues, as the visits required her to travel from Baltimore to Philadelphia by bus. Further, Mother blames DHS for her missed visits.

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Bluebook (online)
946 A.2d 753, 2008 Pa. Super. 62, 2008 Pa. Super. LEXIS 269, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-the-interest-of-kzs-pasuperct-2008.