Opinion
2014-12-10
In the Matter of NEGUS T. (Anonymous). Administration for Children's Services, respondent; Fayme B. (Anonymous), appellant.
Catherine S. Bridge, Staten Island, N.Y., for appellant. Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Pamela Seider Dolgow and Ellen Ravitch of counsel), for respondent.
Catherine S. Bridge, Staten Island, N.Y., for appellant. Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York, N.Y. (Pamela Seider Dolgow and Ellen Ravitch of counsel), for respondent.
Seymour W. James, Jr., New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler, Laura Paley, and Amy Hausknecht of counsel), attorney for the child.
Appeal from an order of fact-finding of the Family Court, Kings County (Amanda E. White, J.), dated September 6, 2013. The order, after a fact-finding hearing, found that the mother neglected the subject child.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
At a fact-finding hearing in a neglect proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 10, a petitioner has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the subject child was neglected ( seeFamily Ct. Act § 1046[b] [i]; Nicholson v. Scoppetta, 3 N.Y.3d 357, 368, 787 N.Y.S.2d 196, 820 N.E.2d 840; Matter of Tammie Z., 66 N.Y.2d 1, 3, 494 N.Y.S.2d 686, 484 N.E.2d 1038). The hearing court's credibility determinations are accorded great weight ( see Matter of China C. [Alexis C.], 116 A.D.3d 953, 985 N.Y.S.2d 104). Contrary to the mother's contention, the Family Court's determination that she neglected the subject child was supported by a preponderance of the evidence. The evidence adduced at the hearing established that the subject child was in imminent danger of becoming physically, mentally, or emotionally impaired as a result of the mother's mental illness ( see Matter of Amber Gold J. [Vanessa J.], 88 A.D.3d 1001, 931 N.Y.S.2d 669; Matter of Faith J., 47 A.D.3d 630, 848 N.Y.S.2d 545). The evidence further established that the mother maintained the child's home in a deplorable and unsanitary condition ( see Matter of Mariah C. [Frey C.-M.], 84 A.D.3d 1372, 923 N.Y.S.2d 892; Matter of Isaac J. [Joyce J.], 75 A.D.3d 506, 904 N.Y.S.2d 755).
Accordingly, the Family Court properly found that the mother neglected the subject child. DILLON, J.P., DICKERSON, AUSTIN and COHEN, JJ., concur.