T.H. v. Department of Human Services

145 A.3d 1191
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedAugust 22, 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 145 A.3d 1191 (T.H. v. Department of Human Services) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T.H. v. Department of Human Services, 145 A.3d 1191 (Pa. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION BY

JUDGE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER

Before this Court are the separate petitions for review of T.H. (Mother) and J.R. (Father) from the Order of the Department of Human Services (Department), Bureau of Hearings and Appeals (Bureau), adopting an Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) Recommendation denying Mother’s and Father’s separate appeals from indicated reports identifying them as perpetrators of child abuse on the Child-Line Registry (Registry) under the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL).1 On appeal, Mother argues the Bureau erred in finding that the County Children and Youth Services (CYS) met its burden of proving that she was a perpetrator of child abuse based on the presumption set forth in Section 6381(d) of the CPSL, 23 Pa. C.S. § 6381(d), and, even if it had, she rebutted that presumption. Father asserts that his appeal should have been granted because the record lacked clear and convincing evidence establishing that he was the perpetrator of child abuse and that the presumption relied upon should not have applied to him because he had only limited access to Child. Because the fact finder did not resolve evidentiary conflicts regarding Mother’s and Father’s rebuttal evidence and whether that evidence did rebut the Section 6381(d) presumption against Mother and/or Father, we vacate and remand for a new decision.

I. Background

S.R. (Child) was born on September 16, 2012, and was approximately one month to four months old at the time of the abuse. Mother and Father are Child’s biological parents but do not live together. It is undisputed that between Child’s birth and January 2013, Child was the victim of mul[1194]*1194tiple instances of non-accidental physical abuse resulting in:

bruising on the chest area on December 23, 2012, six (6) broken ribs on the subject child’s right side between ribs three (3) and eight (8), several bilateral sub-dural hematomas of varying ages, retinal hemorrhaging, all of which are consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome.

(ALJ Adjudication, Findings of Fact (FOF) ¶ 9.) “[Cjhild suffered severe pain as a result of the injuries.” (Id. ¶ 10.) On January 21, 2013, CYS received a referral indicating that Child was being physically abused.2

Following an investigation, during which CYS reviewed Child’s medical records and neither Mother nor Father offered an explanation for how Child’s injuries occurred beyond blaming each other, CYS filed indicated reports identifying Mother and Father as perpetrators of child abuse.3 (Id. ¶ 13.) CYS also filed a dependency petition alleging that Child had been a victim of child abuse, and after several dependency hearings were held, on April 16, 2013, the Court of Common Pleas (common pleas) adjudicated Child dependent and a victim of child abuse. Common pleas did not determine that either parent was the perpetrator. Mother’s motion for expedited permanency review was granted and, on June 11, 2013, common pleas ordered that the Child be returned to Mother’s home with certain conditions. Upon appeal by CYS, the Superior Court affirmed common pleas’ order returning Child to Mother’s physical custody.4

After the Superior Court decision, Mother and Father timely filed appeals seeking expunction of their indicated reports from the Registry. Neither Mother nor Father testified at the hearing before the ALJ. However, they submitted transcripts and exhibits from the dependency action in [1195]*1195common pleas. Also entered into the record were common pleas’ opinion filed pursuant to Rule 1925(a) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Practice, Pa. R.A.P. 1925(a),5 and the Superior Court’s opinion affirming common pleas’ order returning physical custody of Child to Mother with visitation rights for Father.

CYS acknowledged at the hearing “that it could not positively identify which [parent] had committed physical abuse upon ... [C]hild.” (FOF ¶ 15.) However, it argued that the record clearly shows that physical child abuse occurred, both parents had custody of Child during the time period when the child abuse occurred, and it established a prima facie case of child abuse against both Mother and Father. Thus, applying the presumption set forth in Section 6381(d) of the CPSL, 23 Pa. C.S. § 6381(d), that a parent or person responsible for the welfare of the child is the perpetrator of any alleged child abuse, CYS asserted that both Mother and Father were perpetrators unless they rebutted the presumption. Mother and Father did not dispute that Child had been abused, but denied having any personal involvement in the physical abuse of Child. Instead, both claimed that the other parent was responsible for the injuries. Additionally, Mother and Father argued that CYS cannot maintain indicated reports against both of them because CYS cannot definitively prove which parent abused Child.

The ALJ reviewed the evidence and found that Mother and Father were Child’s sole caretakers during the relevant time period. (FOF ¶5.) Mother had primary custody of Child, and Father had visitation and custodial rights to visit Child every other weekend. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7.) When Father would visit Child, Mother would go to Father’s house, pick him up and bring him back to her house for the night, and then would return Father to his home on Saturday or Sunday. (Id. ¶ 8.) The ALJ then considered Section 6381(d) of the CPSL, which provides:

(d) Prima facie evidence of abuse.— Evidence that a child has suffered child abuse of such a nature as would ordinarily not be sustained or exist except by reason of the acts or omissions of the parent or other person responsible for the welfare of the child shall be prima facie evidence of child abuse by the parent or other person responsible for the welfare of the child.

23 Pa. C.S. § 6381(d). The ALJ noted that in In re L.Z., 111 A.3d 1164 (Pa.2015), the Supreme Court had recently rejected this Court’s interpretation of Section 6381(d) that the presumption could be applied only where there was one caretaker, as set forth in J.W. v. Department of Public Welfare, 9 A.3d 270, 273 (Pa.Cmwlth.2010). Citing to Babcock & Wilcox, Co. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 63 Pa. Cmwlth. 61, 437 A.2d 778, 780 (1981), the ALJ concluded that this, change applied to the pending appeals of Mother and Father and that he could use the L.Z. interpretation of Section 6381(d) to determine whether the presumption could be applied to both Mother-and Father notwithstanding CYS’s inability to prove which of the two actually abused Child. (ALJ Adjudication at 7.)

The. ALJ determined that CYS established a prima facie case of child abuse, [1196]*1196citing the clear evidence of child abuse and the fact that Mother and Father "were the two people retaining control and custody of the child during the time frame in which the abuse occurred.” (Id. at 10.) Therefore, the Section 6381(d) presumption applied to Mother and Father and the burden then shifted to them to rebut the presumption. L.Z., 111 A,3d at 1185. Because Mother and Father did not present evidence that rebutted the presumption, instead relying on pre-L.Z.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
145 A.3d 1191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/th-v-department-of-human-services-pacommwct-2016.