DLD
- 002 NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

___________ No. 18

- 2327

___________ ASIA JOHNSON; A.J. , Appellant s

v.
CHILDREN YOUTH AND FAMILIES

____________________________________ On Appeal from the United S tates District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (D.C. Civil Action No. 2: 18

- cv
- 00444 ) District Judge: Honorable Nora Barry Fischer

____________________________________ Submitted for Possible Dismissal Due to a Jurisdictional Defect, Possible Dismissal Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B), or Possible Summary Action Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 27.4 and I.O.P. 10.6 October 4, 2018
Before: JORDAN, GREENAWAY, JR., and NYGAARD , Circuit Judges (Opinion filed : October 19, 2018 )

___________

OPINION *

___________

PER CURIAM

* This disposition is not an opinion of the full C ourt and pursuant to I .O.P. 5.7 does not constitute b inding precedent.2 Pro se A ppellant Asia Johnson appeals from the District Court’s order dismissing her complaint . For the reasons detailed below, we will summarily affirm

. I. In the District Court, Johnson sought to proceed in forma pauperis (“ifp”) to file a complaint against the Allegheny County O ffice of Children Youth and Families (“CYF”)
on behalf of herself and her son. Johnson stated that the basis for jurisdiction in federal

court was her “Indian status.” Johnson ’s complaint , while difficult to decip her, appears
based on a bed bug incident involving her son and her allegation that CYF purportedly kidnapped her son

. Presumably, the allegations are in connection with parental rights proceedings in Family Court , a lthough it is unclear if the state court proceedings are ongoing

. As relief, Johnson requested the return of her son and an a ward of an unspecified amount of damages. The District Court denied Johnson’s ifp motion to the extent that she sought to bring claims on her son’s behalf. The Distric t Court granted Johnson ifp status as to her
own claims , and dismissed the complaint sua sponte for lack of subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(h)(3) of the F ederal Rules of Civil Procedure and for failure to state a
claim pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)

. 1 Johnson appeals ifp

. 2

1 At one point in its decision, the District Court stated that it dismissed all of Johnson’s claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. However, in addition to noting that it was also dismissing for failure to state a claim, the Distri ct Court consid ered whether, Johnson’s claims, if they were liberally construed to invoke a basis for federal jurisdiction, could state a claim.3 II.
W e have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. 3 Our review of a dismissal under Rule 12(h)(3) , which requires dismissal if the court determines that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction, is plenary

. S ee SEC v . Infinity Grp. Co. , 212 F.3d 180, n.6 (3d Cir. 2000)

. Our review of a sua sponte dismissal pursuant to § 1915(e) also is plenary. See Allah v. Seiverling , 229 F.3d 220, 223 (3d Cir. 2000).
III.
T he District Court did not err in dismissing Johnson ’s c omplaint

. To the extent that District Court dismissed Johnson’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction , the District Court was correct in its conclusion. Despite Johnson’s assertion that there was federal jurisdiction based on her “Indian stat us,” the District Court properly
concluded that a party’s ethnicity is not a basis for subject matter jurisdiction. See 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Furthermore, as the D istrict C ourt ruled , there was no basis for diversity jurisdiction because both parties are cit izens of Pennsylvania. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a);

2 This appeal proceeds only as to Johnson’s claims; she may not assert claims on behalf of her son. See Osei

- Afriyie v. Med. Coll. of Pa. , 937 F.2d 876, 882

- 83 (3d Cir. 1991) (holding that a parent and guardian could not litigate pro se on behalf of his children).

3 Johnson takes a timely appeal. S ee Fed. R. Civ. P. 58(a) ; Fed. R. App. P. 4(a)(1)(A) ; see also LeBoon v. Lan caster Jewish Cmty. Ctr. Ass’n , 5 03 F.3d 217, 223

- 24 (3d Cir. 2007). Also, the challenged order, although de nominated a dismissal without prejudice, was a final order because Johnson could not cure the identified deficiencies without affecting her cause o f action. See Borelli v. City of Reading , 532 F.2d 950, 951

- 52 (3d Cir. 1976) (per curiam); see also NJ Physicians, Inc. v. President of U.S. , 653 F.3d 234, 241 n.8 (3d Cir. 2011) (explaining that dismissals for lack of jurisdiction are “by definition wit hout prejudice”).4 Johnson v. SmithKline Beecham Corp. , 724 F.3d 337, 345

- 46 (3d Cir. 2013) (explaining that § 1332 requires c omplete diversity , which means that no plaintiff can be a citizen of
the same state as any of the de fendants) (citation and quotation marks omitted)

. Moreover , to the extent Johnson sought to challenge a state

- court judgment , that is precisely the type of case that a federal court lacks subject matter jurisdiction to consider pursuant to the Rooker

- Feld man 4 doctrine. See Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp. , 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005) ( explaining that federal courts are precluded from exercising jurisdiction over a case brought by state

- court losers challenging the state

court judgments rendered before the D istrict C ourt proceedings commenced).
To the extent Johnson’s complaint, liberally construed, was an attempt to bring forth a federal claim pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , the District Court was correct in its
conclusion that Johnson failed to al lege that the deprivation of her constitutional rights resulted from any official policy or custom of CYF

. See Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs. , 436 U.S. 658 (1978) ; see also Mulholland v. Gov’t Cty. of Berks, Pa. , 706 F.3d 227, 23 9 (3d Cir. 2013) ( holding that even if a county agency’s child abuse investigation was inadequate, the parents’ § 1983 claim failed where there was no evidence that the agency “employ[ed] a policy or ha[d] a custom of conducting desultory investigations”) )

. Additionally , to the e xtent that Johnson sought relief from federal court regarding claims that were pending in state court, t he District Court did not err in deciding to

4 Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co. , 263 U.S. 413 (1923) ; D.C. Ct. of App. v. Feldman , 460 U.S. 462 (1983).5 abstain pursuant to Younger v. Harris , 437 U.S. 37 (1971)

. See Acra Turf Club, Ltd.
Liab. Co. v. Zanzuccki , 748 F.3d 127, 133 (3d Cir. 2014) ( noting that if a state’s law does

not present any procedural barriers to the presentation of the parents’ constitutional
claims in proceedings to remove children from their home , abstention i s warranted (citing
Moore v. Sims , 442 U.S. 415, 432 (1979) )). Accordingly, for the reasons given, we will summarily affirm the judgment of the
District Court

.