In re Michael P.

• Decision Date: 08 March 2016
• Citation: 137 A.D.3d 499,27 N.Y.S.3d 123
• Parties: In re MICHAEL P., Jr., A Child Under the Age of Eighteen Years, etc., Orthensia H., Respondent–Appellant, v. Administration for Children's Services, Petitioner–Respondent.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

137 A.D.3d 499

27 N.Y.S.3d 123

In re MICHAEL P., Jr., A Child Under the Age of Eighteen Years, etc.,Orthensia H., Respondent–Appellant,

v.Administration for Children's Services, Petitioner–Respondent.

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York.

March 8, 2016.

Neal D. Futerfas, White Plains, for appellant.

Zachary W. Carter, Corporation Counsel, New York (Jane L. Gordon of counsel) and Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, New York (Malavika Rao of counsel), for respondent.

Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Diane Pazar of counsel), attorney for the child.

MAZZARELLI, J.P., SWEENY, MANZANET–DANIELS, GISCHE, JJ.

Order of disposition, Family Court, New York County (Stewart H. Weinstein, J.), entered on or about July 30, 2014, to the extent it brings up for review an order, same court and Judge, rendered July 16, 2014, determining, after a hearing, that the mother had neglected the subject child based upon her failure to provide proper supervision and guardianship due to her mental illness, which actually impaired her ability to care for the child, unanimously affirmed, without costs. Appeal from fact-finding order, same court and Judge, entered on or about July 16, 2014, which found that respondent father had neglected the subject child unanimously dismissed, without costs, as subsumed in the appeal from the order of disposition.

The court properly determined that petitioner proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the mother had neglected the child by reason of her untreated mental illness and failure to provide adequate supervision and guardianship, which created a "substantial probability" that the child would be placed at "imminent risk of harm" if placed in her care (Matter of Cerenithy Ecksthine B. [Christian B.], 92 A.D.3d 417, 417, 938 N.Y.S.2d 510 [1st Dept.2012] ; see Matter of Devin M. [Margaret W.], 119 A.D.3d 435, 436, 989 N.Y.S.2d 35 [1st Dept.2014] ; Matter of Immanuel C.-S. [Debra C.], 104 A.D.3d 615, 962 N.Y.S.2d 122 [1st Dept.2013] ). The hospital records and caseworkers' testimony indicate that the mother suffers from paranoid delusions, evidenced by her belief that her neighbors were talking about her and harassing her, and that she is friends with an international pop star. That evidence also demonstrated that, although the child's teeth were visibly decayed, the mother failed to seek dental care for him, demonstrating her failure to provide him with basic dental care (id. ).

"Contrary to the mother's...