Opinion
June 2, 1998
Appeal from the Family Court, Bronx County (Rhoda Cohen, J.).
We agree with the Family Court that although petitioner agency made diligent efforts to strengthen respondent-appellant's relationships with his children, appellant failed to maintain sufficient and regular contact with the children, visiting with them only 8 times within a 15 month period, and failed to take measures necessary to plan for the children's future. Appellant consistently refused to provide the agency with proof of his completion of a drug treatment program, a parenting skills program and a domestic violence counseling program. Accordingly, Family Court's finding of permanent neglect pursuant to Social Services Law § 384-b (7) was supported by clear and convincing evidence (see, e.g., Matter of Gilbert, 127 A.D.2d 452, 454; see also, Matter of LeBron, 140 A.D.2d 276, 277).
Concur — Ellerin, J. P., Wallach, Tom, Mazzarelli and Saxe, JJ.