Opinion
2012-10-23
In re ALEXANDER L., A Child Under the Age of Eighteen Years, etc., Andrea L., Respondent–Appellant, Commissioner of Social Services of the City of New York, Petitioner–Respondent.
Dora M. Lassinger, East Rockaway, for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Sharyn Rootenberg of counsel), for respondent.
Dora M. Lassinger, East Rockaway, for appellant. Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Sharyn Rootenberg of counsel), for respondent.
Tamara A. Steckler, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Claire V. Merkine of counsel), attorney for the child.
TOM, J.P., ANDRIAS, SAXE, DeGRASSE, MANZANET–DANIELS, JJ.
Order of disposition, Family Court, New York County (Jody Adams, J.), entered on or about November 16, 2011, which, upon a fact-finding determination that respondent mother neglected the subject child, placed the child in the custody of the Commissioner of Social Services of the City of New York until the date of the next permanency hearing, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The finding of neglect based on respondent's failure to provide adequate shelter is supported by a preponderance of the evidence and is, by itself, sufficient to support the finding of neglect ( see Matter of Tia B., 257 A.D.2d 366, 683 N.Y.S.2d 44 [1st Dept.1999] ). The record establishes that although respondent was repeatedly advised that her unstable living situation was the cause of her son's progressively deteriorating mental condition, she remained with the child in the New York City homeless shelter system for nearly five years and unreasonably refused suitable permanent housing options.
Respondent's well documented alcohol abuse as well as her erratic and often violent behavior toward her son and others, is an independent basis for a finding of impairment, and a risk thereof, to the child's mental, emotional, and physical well being ( seeFCA § 1012[f][i][B]; Matter of Jared S. [Monet S.], 78 A.D.3d 536, 911 N.Y.S.2d 339 [1st Dept.2010],lv. denied16 N.Y.3d 705, 2011 WL 589734 [2011] ). In addition, respondent's abrupt termination of her son's weekly psychotherapy sessions after more than three years, with no available replacement, particularly at a time when his emotional state was fragile, placed him in imminent risk of emotional impairment ( see Matter of Perry S., 22 A.D.3d 234, 235, 802 N.Y.S.2d 115 [1st Dept.2005];In re LeVonn G., 20 A.D.3d 530, 530–31, 800 N.Y.S.2d 428 [2nd Dept.2005] ).