J

### -S32002-19 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE 

### SUPERIOR COURT 

### I.O.P. 

### 65.37 IN THE INTEREST OF: K.B., : IN THE SUPERIOR COURTOF A MINOR PENNSYLVANIA
APPEAL OF: J.H., MOTHER

: No. 198 EDA 2019 Appeal 

### fromthe Order Entered December 13, 2018 In theCourtof Common Pleas 

### of Philadelphia County FamilyCourt at No(s): 

### CP-51-DP-0002515-2018
IN THE INTEREST OF: Z.B., : IN THE SUPERIOR COURTOF A MINOR PENNSYLVANIA
APPEAL OF: J.H., MOTHER

: No. 199 EDA 2019 Appeal 

### fromthe Order Entered December 13, 2018 In theCourtof Common Pleas 

### of Philadelphia County FamilyCourt at No(s): 

### CP-51-DP-0002516-2018
BEFORE: SHOGAN, J., NICHOLS, J., and MURRAY, J. MEMORANDUM BY SHOGAN, J.: 

### FILED JULY

### 30, 2019 J.H. 

### ("Mother") appeals

### from theorders entered on December 13, 2018 

### that adjudicated her

### children, K.B., born in November of2013, and Z.B., bornJ

### -S32002-19

in December of2014, 

### (collectively

### "the Children"), 

### dependent.' Aftercareful review, we

### affirm thetrial court's orders. The

### trialcourt set

### forththe 

### relevantfacts and procedural 

### history of

### this
case as

### follows: On November 13, 2018, the Philadelphia 

### Department of Human Services ("DHS") received a General Protective Services ("GPS") 

### reportwhich alleged

### that [Motherand Father] used PCP[2] and K2.[3] The GPS 

### report alleged 

### that [Mother and Father] were underthe influenceof controlled substanceswhile inthe presence of the Children and 

### that [Mother and Father] 

### left the Children unattended daily while 

### they purchased 

### controlled substances. Father was convicted 

### for drug related offenses 

### [on] September 10, 2007, January 19, 2010 and December 20, 2010. The GPS 

### report also alleged 

### that Mother had a 

### history of mental illness and

### thatshewas 

### institutionalized because shebelieved

### that someone was 

### trying to kill her. On November 14, 2018, DHS 

### interviewed Father who 

### admitted to DHS personnel 

### that he used PCP. An Order 

### for Protective Custody was obtained by DHS on December 13, 

### 201[8]. On December 13, 2018, the 

### [trial court] held a hearingto 

### determine if

### [theChildren] should be 

### adjudicated dependent. 

### [Motherand Father] were present atthe hearing and represented by counsel. 

### Afterthe hearing, the 

### [trial court] found clear and convincing evidence to 

### adjudicate the Children dependent.

1- The Children's 

### father, C.B. 

### ("Father"), filed appeals 

### from the 

### trial court's orders at 

### Superior Court docket numbers 205 EDA 2019 and 206 EDA 2019. Father's appealsare addressed in a separate 

### memorandum.

2 Phencyclidine ("PCP") is a schedule 

### II controlled substance. 35 P.S. § 

### 780- 

### 104(2)(v)(1); 28 Pa.Code § 

### 25.72(c)(5)(i).

3 K2 is a 

### synthetic cannabinoid. 

### Synthetic cannabinoids are schedule I 

### controlled substances. 35 P.S. § 

### 780-104(1)(vii). 

## -2J

### -S32002-19
TrialCourt Opinion,

### 3/22/19, at

### unnumbered 2-3. Mother

### timelyappealed the 

### trial court's orders on January 12, 2019, in separate notices 

### of appeal. Both the 

### trial court and Mother complied 

### with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. On appeal, Mother presents the 

### following issue 

### for this Court's consideration: A. 

### Whether the 

### trial court abused its 

### discretion when it 

### adjudicated the 

### [C]hildren dependent and 

### committed them to DHSwhere such 

### determinationwas notsupported byclear and convincing evidence 

### pursuantto 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6302? Mother's Briefat4 

### (full capitalization 

### omitted). Our Supreme Court set 

### forth our standard of review 

### for dependency
cases as

### follows: 

### [T]he standard of review in dependency cases requires an appellate 

### court to accept the findings of fact and 

### credibility determinations of the 

### trial court if 

### they are supported by the record, but does not 

### require the appellate 

### court to accept the lower 

### court's inferences or conclusions of law. 

### Accordingly, we review

### for an abuse 

### ofdiscretion. 

## In re R.J.T., 9 A.3d 1179, 1190 (Pa. 

### 2010). Regarding the 

### definition of an abuse of

### discretion, this Court has stated the 

### following: An abuse 

### of discretion is not 

### merely an 

### error of

### judgment; if, in reaching a conclusion, 

### the court overrides or misapplies the law, or the

### judgment exercised is shown by the record to be 

### either manifestly unreasonable or the product of 

### partiality, prejudice, bias or ill 

### will, discretion has been abused. 

### Bulgarelli v.

### Bulgarelli, 934 A.2d 107, 111 (Pa. Super. 2007) 

### (citation and 

### quotation marks

### omitted).



## -3J

### -S32002-19 Additionally, 

### "[t]he burden of 

### proof in a dependency proceeding is on the 

### petitioner to 

### demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence 

### that a child meets

### that statutory definition of 

### dependency." 

## In re G.,T., 845 A.2d 870, 872 (Pa. Super. 

### 2004). Section 6302oftheJuvenileAct, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 

### 6301- 6375, defines a 

### "dependentchild" as a childwho: (1) is 

### without proper parental care or 

### control, subsistence, education as required by law, or 

### other care or control necessary 

### for his physical, 

### mental, or 

### emotional health, or morals. A 

### determination 

### that there is a lack 

### of proper parental care or 

### control may be based upon evidence 

### of conduct by the parent, guardian or 

### other custodian 

### that places the health, safety or 

### welfare of the child at risk, including evidence of the 

### parent's, guardian's or 

### other custodian's use of alcohol or a 

### controlled substance

### that placesthe health, 

### safety or

### welfare ofthe child 

### at 

### risk[.] 42 Pa.C.S. § 6302. "Thequestionof

### whether a child is lacking 

### properparental
care or 

### control so as to be a 

### dependent child encompasses two discrete questions: 

### whether the child 

### presently is 

### without proper parental care and 

### control, and if so, 

### whether such care and 

### control are 

### immediately available." G.T., 845A.2d at 872 

### (citation omitted). The 

### trial court concluded 

### that the Children were dependent due to Mother's drug use and 

### mental 

### instability. Specifically, the 

### trial courtfound as 

### follows: During the hearing on December 13, 2018, the DHS Representative 

### testified 

### that Father 

### confirmed Mother had received 

### inpatientmental health

### treatmentand 

### that Mothertested positive on her

### admittancefor PCP. (N.T. December 13, 2018 Page 7). DHS also 

### introduced evidence 

### that Mother and Father had tested positive 

### for PCP on 

### November 19, 2018. (N.T. December 13, 2018 Page 7). The 

### trial court accorded 

### great 

## -4J

### -S32002-19 weight to 

### the 

### testimony of the DHS 

### Representative and the evidence 

### that Mother was 

### mentally unstable and Mother and Father were users of PCP. This evidence provided clear and convincing evidence 

### that Mother and Father lacked 

### the 

### ability to provide safety and adequate parental control 

### for 

### their Children and

### that separation ofthe Parentsand Children was necessary

### for the welfare ofthe Children. Trial CourtOpinion, 

### 3/22/19, at 

### unnumbered 4-5. At the December 13, 2018 hearing, Mother challenged the aforementioned mental-health 

### commitment and alleged 

### that she had been kidnapped. 

### Id. at 9. Mother also averred 

### that she had never used PCP and any 

### report tothe 

### contrarywas a lie. 

### Id. at 10. However, the record reflects 

### that Motherwas 

### involuntarilycommitted for a 

### psychiatric evaluation pursuant to 50 P.S. § 7302, and she tested positive 

### for PCP. N.T., 

### 12/13/18, at 7. Moreover, the record reveals 

### that Mother requires assistance caring 

### for the Children as both 

### of the Children have special needs. 

### Applications 

### for Emergency Protective Custody, 

### 11/6/18.4 The record contains clear and convincing evidence 

### that the Children lacked 

### proper parental care and 

### control, and Mother was unable to provide such care. 

### After review, we discern no abuse of 

### discretion in the 

### trial court's conclusion 

### that Mother's mental health issues and use 

### of PCP placed the health, safety, and 

### welfare of the Children at risk 

### pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S.

4 The November6, 2018 

### Applications

### for Emergency Protective Custodywere filed concerning both Motherand Father and in regard to each 

### oftheChildren.

- 5 -J

### -S32002-19
§ 6302. 

### Accordingly, we 

### affirm the orders 

### adjudicating the Children dependent. Orders 

### affirmed. Judgment Entered.

J seph D. 

### Seletyn, Prothonotary

Date: 

### 7/30/19



## -6