Opinion
2012-05-3
In re MESSIAH C., etc., A Dependent Child Under Eighteen Years of Age, etc.,Laverne C., Respondent–Appellant,New York City Administration for Children's Services, Petitioner–Respondent.
Steven N. Feinman, White Plains, for appellant. *868 Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Alan G. Krams of counsel), for respondent.
Steven N. Feinman, White Plains, for appellant. *868 Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Alan G. Krams of counsel), for respondent.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Susan Clement of counsel), attorney for the child.
Order, Family Court, New York County (Clark V. Richardson, J.), entered on or about January 12, 2011, which, after a fact-finding hearing, determined that respondent had derivatively neglected the subject child, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The finding of derivative neglect was supported by a preponderance of the evidence ( see Family Court Act § 1046[b][i]; In re Tammie Z., 66 N.Y.2d 1, 3, 494 N.Y.S.2d 686, 484 N.E.2d 1038 [1985] ). The record shows that respondent mother had a thirteen year history of abusing illegal narcotics, and that due to her addiction, her three older children had been removed from her care and her parental rights to one of the children were terminated. The record also showed that the mother had continued to use drugs until at least May 2009, halfway through her pregnancy with the subject child, and that she had dropped out of a drug treatment program only two months before his birth.
That the mother subsequently enrolled herself in an in-patient program two weeks before the child's birth is commendable, but does not outweigh her significant history.
The relevant time period for assessing the risk to the child is when the petition is filed ( see Matter of Brianna R. [Marisol G.], 78 A.D.3d 437, 438, 910 N.Y.S.2d 71 [2010], lv. denied, 16 N.Y.3d 702, 917 N.Y.S.2d 108, 942 N.E.2d 319 [2011] ), and the petition was filed when the child was two weeks old. Thus, given the brief period between respondent's last drug use and the child's birth, the court properly found that the child was at risk of neglect based on the mother's extensive history of drug abuse ( see FCA § 1046[a][i]; Matter of Noah Jeremiah J. v. Kimberly J., 81 A.D.3d 37, 42, 914 N.Y.S.2d 105 [2010] ).