In re Brittney U.
Opinion of the Court
Appeal from an order of the Family Court of Broome County (Charnetsky, J.), entered September 28, 2006, which, among other things, granted petitioner’s applications, in two proceedings pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b, to revoke two suspended judgments, and terminated respondents’ parental rights.
In the course of prior permanent neglect proceedings against them, respondents each admitted having permanently neglected or abandoned their respective children, and judgments terminating their parental rights were suspended until November 2005. In October 2005, petitioner commenced these proceedings seeking to revoke the suspended judgments. Respondents then admitted that they had failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the suspensions and, following a hearing, Family Court terminated their parental rights.
We are unpersuaded by respondents’ contention that they should be given additional time in which to rehabilitate themselves. Petitioner established that the children had already spent much of their young lives in foster care because of respondents’ refusal to abandon their lifestyles of substance abuse, criminal activity and domestic violence. Given the four years that elapsed while petitioner attempted to provide services to remedy respondents’ parental deficiencies, Family Court reasonably concluded that affording them additional time for rehabilitation would not be in the children’s best interests (see Matter of Michael B., 80 NY2d 299, 311 [1992]).
Nor can we agree with respondents that Family Court should have granted custody of all three children to the mother’s aunt in lieu of terminating their parental rights. Family Court found
Crew III, J.P., Mugglin, Lahtinen and Kane, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.