In the Interest of: S.W., a Minor, Appeal of: N.M.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 24, 2016
Docket864 WDA 2015
StatusUnpublished

This text of In the Interest of: S.W., a Minor, Appeal of: N.M. (In the Interest of: S.W., a Minor, Appeal of: N.M.) 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: S.W., a Minor, Appeal of: N.M., (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

J. A04015/16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

IN THE INTEREST OF: S.W., A MINOR : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA APPEAL OF: N.M., MOTHER : : No. 864 WDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Entered April 15, 2015, in the Court of Common Pleas of Warren County Civil Division at No. CP-62-DP-007

BEFORE: FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E., BENDER, P.J.E., AND SHOGAN, J.

MEMORANDUM BY FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.: FILED MAY 24, 2016

N.M. (“Mother”) appeals from the order entered April 15, 2015, in the

Court of Common Pleas of Warren County, Civil Division, subsequent to the

petition of Warren County Children and Youth Services (“Warren County

CYS,” or “CYS”), adjudicating S.W. (“Child”), born in March of 2000,

dependent pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302, and removing Child from

Mother’s home. After review, we affirm.

The factual history was summarized, in part, by the trial court as

follows:

[S.W.] is a 15-year-old child who has resided in her mother’s home her entire lifetime except for periods of hospitalization. Her father was identified by the mother as [K.M.], a resident of North Carolina whom the mother believes died shortly after [S.W.]’s birth. The mother has moved repeatedly during [S.W.]’s lifetime having resided in North Carolina as well as other parts of Pennsylvania before residing in Warren County. [S.W.] suffers from a genetic, lifetime disorder that has resulted in global developmental J. A04015/16

delays, intellectual impairment, limited language development, limited motor skills, extremely short stature and low body weight and microcephaly. The condition was generally diagnosed as lactic acidosis and has resulted in a number of emergency hospitalizations. Most recently, [S.W.] was diagnosed with Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency [PDD] or pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency (PDCD), a neurodegenerative disorder associated with abnormal metabolism. [S.W.] operates on the level of an 18-24 month old. She attends Beaty Middle School and has an IEP that places her in the life skills classroom, as well as a medical plan in the school setting that includes constant nursing supervision and two meals per day at school. . . . Because of her condition, [S.W.] can require emergency medical care with a short onset of symptoms including lethargy, paleness, loss of appetite, irritability and extreme pain. As she cannot verbalize the onset of symptoms, [S.W.] has had numerous emergency hospitalizations. During her most recent hospitalization at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, CYS intervened and obtained emergency custody of [S.W.] She was placed in foster care and, at the time of the hearing, was comfortable there. Medical appointments have been rescheduled by CYS.

Order of Adjudication-Child Dependent, 4/14/15.

While Mother acknowledged that she and Child had been previously

known to child welfare agencies in other counties, such as Columbia and

Northumberland, Mother and Child had been known to Warren County CYS,

receiving assistance since May of 2014. (Notes of testimony, 4/14/15 at

117, 230-231, 237-238.) As a result of concerns regarding Mother’s care of

S.W., on April 9, 2015, Warren County CYS filed an application for

emergency custody. The application alleged various facts in support of the

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custody request, including numerous hospitalizations, a failure to administer

medication properly, and a failure to provide adequate nutrition and

hygiene. By ex parte order the same date, the trial court granted the

exercise of emergency custody and scheduled a hearing for April 14, 2015.

Also on the same date, April 9, 2015, CYS filed a petition for dependency.

On April 14, 2015, the trial court held an adjudicatory and dispositional

hearing. Warren County CYS presented the testimony of former and current

CYS caseworkers, Melissa Baxter and Katie McGraw, Child’s pediatrician,

Dr. David M. McConnell, Jr., school nurse, Tina Zigler, and Child’s foster

parent, W.S. Mother offered her own testimony, as well as that of Child’s

attending physician and genetics expert, Dr. Gerald Vockley. At the

conclusion of the hearing, the trial court entered an order adjudicating Child

dependent without proper parental care and control, awarding legal and

medical custody to Warren County CYS, and finding that the agency had

made reasonable efforts to prevent removal.

On May 14, 2015, Mother filed a Motion to Add Entries to the Docket

Statement, Reconsideration and Supplemental Relief, asserting the

emergency custody order did not appear on the prothonotary’s docket

statement, and the occurrence of multiple procedural violations, including

the failure to conduct a shelter care hearing. By order dated May 15, 2015,

the trial court denied Mother’s motion. On the same day, Mother, through

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appointed counsel, then filed a notice of appeal and concise statement of

errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2)(i) and (b).

On appeal, Mother raises the following issues for our review:

I. Was the trial court’s finding that CYS met their burden of proof of clear and convincing evidence that the minor was without adequate parental care and control unsupported by the record established at trial, and were the trial court’s inferences and deductions from the record an abuse of discretion?

II. Was the trial court’s finding that Warren County Children and Youth Services took reasonable steps to avoid removal from the home unsupported by the record; did the agency meet the applicable burden of proof of clear necessity; and were the inferences and deductions in support of this finding an abuse of discretion?

III. Did the trial court’s failure to conduct a Shelter Care Hearing and attendant procedural irregularities [sic] violations [of] the mother’s constitutional rights to substantive due process, procedural due process, and effective counsel?

Mother’s brief at 7-8.

As set forth, our standard of review for dependency cases is as

[T]he standard of review in dependency cases requires an appellate court to accept the findings of fact and credibility determinations of the trial court if they are supported by the record, but does not require the appellate court to accept the lower court’s inferences or conclusions of law. Accordingly, we review for an abuse of discretion.

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In re R.J.T., 9 A.3d 1179, 1190 (Pa. 2010), quoting In re D.P., 972 A.2d at

1225.

Further, to adjudicate a child dependent, a trial court must determine,

by clear and convincing evidence, that the child:

is without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for his physical, mental, or emotional health, or morals. A determination that there is a lack of proper parental care or control may be based upon evidence of conduct by the parent, guardian or other custodian that places the health, safety or welfare of the child at risk.

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302. “Clear and convincing” evidence has been defined as testimony that is “so clear, direct, weighty, and convincing as to enable the trier of facts to come to a clear conviction, without hesitancy, of the truth of the precise facts in issue.” In re C.R.S., 696 A.2d 840, 843 (Pa. Super. 1997) (citation omitted).

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