In re Alister UU.
Opinion of the Court
Appeal from an order of the Family Court of Tompkins County (Rowley, J.), entered May 10, 2013, which granted petitioner’s application, in a proceeding pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b, to adjudicate the subject children to be permanently neglected, and terminated respondent’s parental rights.
Respondent is the mother of three children (born in 1999, 2003 and 2006). In a 2009 custody proceeding, the children’s grandparents were awarded custody and respondent consented to an order of protection prohibiting her from allowing her then-
We affirm. To establish permanent neglect, petitioner was required to prove by clear and convincing evidence “that it made diligent efforts to strengthen the parent-child relationship and that, despite those efforts, the parent has failed to . . . substantially plan for the child[ren]’s future for one year after the agency has been charged with the child[ren]’s care,” although physically and financially able to do so (Matter of Tatianna K. [Claude U.], 79 AD3d 1184, 1185 [2010]; see Social Services Law § 384-b [7] [a]; Matter of Gerald BB., 51 AD3d 1081, 1083 [2008], lv denied 11 NY3d 703 [2008]). Petitioner created and regularly reviewed a service plan, scheduled and supervised weekly visitation, arranged for phone contact between respondent and her children, held family team meetings, offered to help respondent secure appropriate housing, provided her transportation assistance, and referred her to mental health services and an advocacy center to address her own prior experiences as a victim of sexual abuse and domestic violence. Petitioner’s caseworkers also talked with respondent at least weekly and constantly told her that the children would not be returned to her unless she ended her relationship with Ray, because he was a sex offender. While respondent now contends that petitioner should have given her detailed information regarding Ray’s history of sexual abuse, she did not ask for more details and chose to believe Ray’s version. Additionally, she had previously acknowledged that Ray was inappropriate to be around her children when she consented to the 2009 order of protection that does not expire until her youngest child turns 18. Petitioner was not required to offer or obtain a sex offender evaluation for Ray, “as petitioner’s statutory duty to encourage the parental relationship did not constitute a duty to the paramour” (Matter of Michael JJ. [Gerald JJ.], 101 AD3d 1288, 1291 [2012], lv denied 20 NY3d 860 [2013]). Thus, petitioner proved that it made the required diligent efforts that were tailored to respondent’s circumstances (see Matter of Laelani B., 59 AD3d 880, 881 [2009]).
Respondent did not substantially plan for her children’s future. To her credit, she did complete a parenting class and an anger management class, attended counseling and regularly
Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.