§ 1055-B — Custody or guardianship with a parent or parents, relatives or suitable persons pursuant to article six of this act or guardianship with ...

§ 1055-b. Custody or guardianship with a parent or parents, relatives\nor suitable persons pursuant to article six of this act or guardianship\nwith relatives or suitable persons pursuant to article seventeen of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act. (a) Custody or guardianship with\nrespondent parent or parents, relatives or suitable persons. At the\nconclusion of the dispositional hearing under this article, the court\nmay enter an order of disposition granting custody or guardianship of\nthe child to a respondent parent or parents, as defined in subdivision\n(1) of section one thousand twelve of this article, or a relative or\nrelatives or other suitable person or persons pursuant to article six of\nthis act or an order of guardianship of the child to a relative or\nrelatives or suitable person or persons under article seventeen of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act if the following conditions have been\nmet:\n (i) the respondent parent or parents, relative or relatives or\nsuitable person or persons has or have filed a petition for custody or\nguardianship of the child pursuant to article six of this act or, in the\ncase of a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons, a\npetition for guardianship of the child under article seventeen of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act; and\n (ii) the court finds that granting custody or guardianship of the\nchild to such person or persons is in the best interests of the child\nand that the safety of the child will not be jeopardized if the\nrespondent or respondents under the child protective proceeding are no\nlonger under supervision or receiving services. In determining whether\nthe best interests of the child will be promoted by the granting of\nguardianship of the child to a relative who has cared for the child as a\nfoster parent, the court shall give due consideration to the permanency\ngoal of the child, the relationship between the child and the relative,\nand whether the relative and the social services district have entered\ninto an agreement to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments\nfor the child to the relative under title ten of article six of the\nsocial services law, and, if so, whether the fact-finding hearing\npursuant to section one thousand fifty-one of this part and a permanency\nhearing pursuant to section one thousand eighty-nine of this chapter\nhave occurred and whether compelling reasons exist for determining that\nthe return home of the child and the adoption of the child are not in\nthe best interests of the child and are, therefore, not appropriate\npermanency options; and\n (iii) the court finds that granting custody or guardianship of the\nchild to the respondent parent, relative or suitable person under\narticle six of this act or granting guardianship of the child to the\nrelative or suitable person under article seventeen of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act will provide the child with a safe and permanent\nhome; and\n (iv) all parties to the child protective proceeding consent to the\ngranting of custody or guardianship under article six of this act or the\ngranting of guardianship under article seventeen of the surrogate's\ncourt procedure act; or, if any of the parties object to the granting of\ncustody or guardianship, the court has made the following findings after\na joint dispositional hearing on the child protective petition and the\npetition under article six of this act or under article seventeen of the\nsurrogate's court procedure act:\n (A) if a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have\nfiled a petition for custody or guardianship and a parent or parents\nfail to consent to the granting of the petition, the court finds that\nthe relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have\ndemonstrated that extraordinary circumstances exist that support\ngranting an order of custody or guardianship to the relative or\nrelatives or suitable person or persons and that the granting of the\norder will serve the child's best interests; or\n (B) if a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have\nfiled a petition for custody or guardianship and a party other than the\nparent or parents fail to consent to the granting of the petition, the\ncourt finds that granting custody or guardianship of the child to the\nrelative or relatives or suitable person or persons is in the best\ninterests of the child; or\n (C) if a respondent parent has filed a petition for custody under\narticle six of this act and a party who is not a parent of the child\nobjects to the granting of the petition, the court finds either that the\nobjecting party has failed to establish extraordinary circumstances, or,\nif the objecting party has established extraordinary circumstances, that\ngranting custody to the petitioning respondent parent would nonetheless\nbe in the child's best interests; or\n (D) if a respondent parent has filed a petition for custody under\narticle six of this act and the other parent objects to the granting of\nthe petition, the court finds that granting custody to the petitioning\nrespondent parent is in the child's best interests.\n (a-1) Custody and visitation petition of non-respondent parent under\narticle six of this act. Where a proceeding filed by the non-respondent\nparent pursuant to article six of this act is pending at the same time\nas a proceeding brought in the family court pursuant to this article,\nthe court presiding over the proceeding under this article may jointly\nhear the dispositional hearing on the child protective petition under\nthis article and the hearing on the custody and visitation petition\nunder article six of this act; provided however, the court must\ndetermine the non-respondent parent's custody and visitation petition\nfiled under article six of this act in accordance with the terms of that\narticle.\n (a-2) Custody and visitation petition of non-respondent parent under\nsection two hundred forty of the domestic relations law. Where a\nproceeding brought in the supreme court involving the custody of, or\nright to visitation with, any child of a marriage is pending at the same\ntime as a proceeding brought in the family court pursuant to this\narticle, the court presiding over the proceeding under this article may\njointly hear the dispositional hearing on the child protective petition\nunder article ten of this act and, upon referral from the supreme court,\nthe hearing to resolve the matter of custody or visitation in the\nproceeding pending in the supreme court; provided however, the court\nmust determine the non-respondent parent's custodial rights in\naccordance with the terms of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section\ntwo hundred forty of the domestic relations law.\n (b) An order made in accordance with the provisions of this section\nshall set forth the required findings as described in subdivision (a) of\nthis section where applicable, including, if the guardian and the local\ndepartment of social services have entered into an agreement to provide\nkinship guardianship assistance payments for the child to the relative\nunder title ten of article six of the social services law, that a\nfact-finding hearing pursuant to section one thousand fifty-one of this\npart and a permanency hearing pursuant to section one thousand\neighty-nine of this chapter have occurred, and the compelling reasons\nthat exist for determining that the return home of the child and the\nadoption of the child are not in the best interests of the child and\nare, therefore, not appropriate permanency options for the child, and\nshall constitute the final disposition of the child protective\nproceeding. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall\nnot issue an order of supervision nor may the court require the local\ndepartment of social services to provide services to the respondent or\nrespondents when granting custody or guardianship pursuant to article\nsix of this act under this section or granting guardianship under\narticle seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act.\n (c) As part of the order granting custody or guardianship pursuant to\narticle six of this act or granting guardianship under article seventeen\nof the surrogate's court procedure act, the court may require that the\nlocal department of social services and the attorney for the child\nreceive notice of, and be made parties to, any subsequent proceeding to\nmodify the order of custody or guardianship granted pursuant to the\narticle six proceeding or the order of guardianship granted pursuant to\narticle seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act; provided,\nhowever, if the guardian and the local department of social services had\nentered into an agreement to provide kinship guardianship assistance\npayments for the child to the relative under title ten of article six of\nthe social services law, the order must require that the local\ndepartment of social services and the attorney for the child receive\nnotice of, and be made parties to, any such subsequent proceeding\nregarding custody or guardianship of the child.\n (d) An order entered in accordance with this section shall conclude\nthe court's jurisdiction over the proceeding held pursuant to this\narticle and the court shall not maintain jurisdiction over the parties\nfor the purposes of permanency hearings held pursuant to article ten-A\nof this act.\n (e) The court shall hold age appropriate consultation with the child,\nhowever, if the youth has attained fourteen years of age, the court\nshall ascertain his or her preference for a suitable guardian.\nNotwithstanding any other section of law, where the youth is over the\nage of eighteen, he or she shall consent to the appointment of a\nsuitable guardian.\n