Court Opinion

ID: 9952040
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-03-19 16:15:11.99457+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:37:44.560540
License: Public Domain

J-A27016-23

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

 IN THE INTEREST OF: A.B., A          :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 MINOR                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                      :
                                      :
 APPEAL OF: S.E. AND R.E.             :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :   No. 812 MDA 2023

               Appeal from the Order Entered April 20, 2023
  In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Juvenile Division at
                    No(s): CP-36-DP-0000246-2018

 IN THE INTEREST OF: H.B., MINOR      :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 CHILD                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                      :
                                      :
 APPEAL OF: S.E. AND R.E.             :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :   No. 813 MDA 2023

               Appeal from the Order Entered April 20, 2023
  In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Juvenile Division at
                    No(s): CP-36-DP-0000128-2019

 IN THE INTEREST OF: A.B., A          :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 MINOR                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                      :
                                      :
 APPEAL OF: S.E. AND R.E.             :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :
                                      :   No. 854 MDA 2023

               Appeal from the Order Entered May 17, 2023
  In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Juvenile Division at
                    No(s): CP-36-DP-0000246-2018

 IN THE INTEREST OF: H.B., A          :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
 MINOR                                :        PENNSYLVANIA
J-A27016-23

                                               :
                                               :
    APPEAL OF: S.E. & R.E.                     :
                                               :
                                               :
                                               :
                                               :   No. 855 MDA 2023

                  Appeal from the Order Entered May 17, 2023
     In the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County Juvenile Division at
                       No(s): CP-36-DP-0000128-2019

BEFORE:      LAZARUS, J., NICHOLS, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.*

MEMORANDUM BY NICHOLS, J.:                                 FILED: MARCH 19, 2024

       In these consolidated appeals,1 Appellants S.E. and R.E. appeal from the

trial court’s orders granting the motion filed by Lancaster County Children and

Youth Social Service Agency (the Agency) to modify the placement of A.B. and

H.B.    (Children),2    and     the   orders     denying    Appellants’   motion   for

reconsideration and intervention.3 Appellants argue that the trial court erred

by concluding that Appellants lacked standing as parties to intervene in the

dependency proceedings.          Appellants also claim that the Agency failed to

provide Appellants with a copy of the Agency’s motion to modify placement

and notice of the hearing on the Agency’s motion. Lastly, Appellants challenge

____________________________________________

* Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.

1  On August 7, 2023, this Court granted Appellants’ application for
consolidation of appeals and adjusted briefing schedule. See Order, 8/7/23,
at 2 (per curiam); see also Pa.R.A.P. 513.

2 Appeals at 812 MDA 2023 and 813 MDA 2023.

3 Appeals at 854 MDA 2023 and 855 MDA 2023.

                                           -2-
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the constitutionality of Pa.R.J.C.P. 1606 and 42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1. We vacate

and remand for further proceedings.

       The trial court summarized the facts and procedural history of this case

as follows:

       A.B. was placed with [Appellants] shortly after birth in December
       2018.[4] H.B. was later placed with [Appellants] in August 2019.[5]
       [] Children’s Father died in December 2020, and the court
       terminated Mother’s [parental] rights in June 2021.

       The first indication of issues existing within [Appellants’] home
       was in late 2021 when H.B. began referring to herself as “a bad
       girl” during therapy sessions. The therapist began working with
       [Appellants] on ways to adjust their parenting style to encourage
       a more positive self-perception in H.B. H.B. stopped her trauma
       therapy so that she and [R.E.] could work on parent-child
       interaction therapy, a form of family-based therapy. Family-
       based therapy focused on family communication, expectations,
       and understanding trauma. However, after the first session of
       parent-child interaction therapy on September 13, 2021, [R.E.]
       chose not to continue with the therapy. As of March 2022, trauma
       therapy remained on hold so [Appellants] could receive family-
       based therapy.

____________________________________________

4 The Agency filed a dependency petition for A.B. on December 26, 2018.
Therein, the Agency stated that Mother and Father were abusing heroin,
Mother had used heroin while she was pregnant with A.B., and Mother and
Father did not have housing. See Dependency Pet., Docket No. DP-246-2018,
12/26/18, at 1, 4 (unpaginated).

5 The Agency filed a dependency petition for H.B. on August 23, 2019.
Therein, the Agency stated that Mother and Father had tested positive for
methamphetamines, amphetamines, and opiates and did not have housing.
See Dependency Pet., Docket No. DP-128-2019, 8/23/19, at 1, 4
(unpaginated). The Agency further explained that it previously did not have
safety concerns because H.B. had been residing with a maternal relative in
New Jersey. See id. at 4. However, H.B. was no longer residing with her
relative in New Jersey and at the time the petition was filed, H.B. was in the
care of unknown individuals. See id. at 1, 4.

                                           -3-
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     In November 2022, the Agency placed [] Children in a respite
     home due to pending General Protective Services (GPS) reports
     and separate Child Protective Services (CPS) reports.        The
     Children’s Alliance interviewed [] Children on November 8, 2022,
     and one child made several disclosures requiring [further]
     investigation. After [Appellants] agreed to comply with various
     requirements by the Agency, [] Children returned to the
     [Appellants’] home on December 16, 2022.

     Between October 31, 2022 and April 20, 2023, there have been
     seven (7) total reports regarding minor children in [Appellants’]
     home. Those included three (3) separate GPS reports and four
     (4) separate CPS reports. The GPS reports were investigated by
     the Agency.       The CPS reports were investigated by the
     Pennsylvania Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF). Of
     the seven (7) reports, [R.E.], was named as the alleged
     perpetrator in all four (4) of the CPS reports and all three (3) of
     the GPS reports. [S.E.] was named as the alleged perpetrator in
     one (1) of the GPS reports only. All three (3) of the GPS reports
     pertaining to [R.E.] were validated. Those GPS reports involved
     concerns for inappropriate discipline and/or inadequate care and
     nurturing regarding three (3) different children, including A.B. and
     H.B.

Trial Ct. Op., 7/12/23, at 2-3 (some formatting altered).

     The trial court explained the subsequent procedural history as follows:

     On March 27, 2023, the Agency filed an emergency motion for
     modification of placement pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 1606 due to
     [Appellants’] involvement with abuse allegations. That same day,
     the court granted the Agency’s motion, entering an order [on]
     March 2[8], 2023[,] permitting the move effective immediately .
     . . . The court also scheduled a hearing on the motion because
     the guardian ad litem’s (“GAL”) position as to the emergency
     request was unknown. The GAL later reviewed the Agency’s
     request and the GAL stated she had no objection to the move.
     Accordingly, after being advised that the motion for modification
     was not contested [by the GAL], the court cancelled the April 11,
     2023 hearing. On April 20, 2023, the court entered a second order
     directing that [] Children remain in the new resource home . . . .

Id. at 1 (footnote omitted and some formatting altered).

                                    -4-
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      Following the trial court’s entry of an order confirming Children’s

removal from Appellants’ care and Children’s placement with a different foster

family without a hearing, Appellants filed motions captioned “motion for

reconsideration, request for judicial finding of prospective adoptive parent

status and party status, motion for intervention into the dependency case,

and request for a hearing on the removal of the juvenile” (motion for

reconsideration and intervention) at each trial court docket number. Therein,

Appellants argued that as prospective adoptive parents of Children, they had

status as parties to participate in the hearing to modify Children’s placement

and the trial court violated their due process rights by granting the Agency’s

motion without a hearing. See Mot. for Reconsideration and Intervention,

4/27/23, at 2-5 (unpaginated).

      On May 17, 2023, the trial court denied Appellants’ motion for

reconsideration and intervention without holding a hearing. Appellants filed

timely notices of appeal from the trial court’s April 20, 2023 orders modifying

Children’s placement and from the trial court’s May 17, 2023 orders denying

Appellants’ motion for reconsideration and intervention. Appellants and the

trial court both complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.

      Appellants raise ten issues for our review, which we restate and reorder

as follows:

      1.   The trial court erred in denying Appellants’ motion for
           intervention because Appellants have standing as prospective
           adoptive parents.

                                     -5-
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       2.   The trial court erred in denying Appellants’ motion for
            intervention because Appellants are parties whose care and
            control of Children were at issue.

       3.   The trial court erred in denying Appellants’ motion for
            intervention and by concluding that Appellants must have
            legal custody of Children to intervene in the dependency
            action.

       4.   The trial court erred in denying Appellants’ motion for
            intervention and by relying on a non-precedential decision.

       5.   The Agency failed to provide parties notice of the hearing on
            the Agency’s petition to remove Children from Appellants’
            care pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1.

       6.   The trial court denied Appellants denied due process by
            removing Children from Appellants’ care without a hearing.

       7.   The Agency failed to follow the requirements of Pa.R.J.C.P.
            1606 when seeking the removal of Children from Appellants’
            care.

       8.   Pa.R.J.C.P. 1606 is unconstitutionally vague because it does
            not provide a mechanism for the court to determine who has
            standing as party.

       9.   Pa.R.J.C.P. 1606 is unconstitutionally vague because it
            provides that a court “may” schedule a hearing on
            modification of a child’s placement.

       10. 42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1 is unconstitutional because it does not
           provide Appellants the rights to present evidence and
           confront witnesses.

Appellants’ Brief at 6-10.6
____________________________________________

6 While Appellants identify ten issues for our review in their statement of
questions presented, the argument section of their brief is only divided into
six sections: (1) Appellants’ standing as parties; (2) due process requirements
pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1; (3) the Agency’s compliance with Pa.R.J.C.P.
1606; (4) the constitutionality of Pa.R.J.C.P. 1606; (5) the constitutionality of
42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1; and (6) “final points to consider.” Appellants’ Brief at
16-51. We note that the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure require
(Footnote Continued Next Page)

                                           -6-
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                                Appellants’ Standing

       Appellants’ first four issues are interrelated; therefore, we discuss them

together. Appellants argue that the trial court erred in concluding that they

lacked standing to intervene in the dependency matter. Appellants’ Brief at

17-31. Specifically, Appellants have presented two theories regarding their

standing. First, Appellants contend that they have standing as parties because

they were persons whose care and control of Children were in question. Id.

at 18-20 (citing, inter alia, In re L.C., II, 900 A.2d 378, 381 (Pa. Super.

2006)). Alternatively, Appellants claim that as prospective adoptive parents,

they have standing to intervene to contest the Agency’s removal of Children

from their care and seek the return of Children to their custody. Id. at 22-36

(citing, inter alia, In re M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d 1050 (Pa. Super. 2018); In re

Griffin, 690 A.2d 1192 (Pa. Super. 1997); Mitch v. Bucks Cty. Children

and Youth Social Service Agency, 556 A.2d 419 (Pa. Super. 1989)).

Appellants further argue that the trial court erred by relying on In re K.R.,

669 EDA 2019, 2020 WL 3989162 (Pa. Super. filed July 15, 2020)

____________________________________________

that the argument section of the brief be divided into as many parts as there
are questions to be argued. Pa.R.A.P. 2119(a). Failure to do so may result
in waiver. Ramalingam v. Keller Williams Realty Group, Inc., 121 A.3d
1034, 1042 (Pa. Super. 2015). While we do not condone Appellants’ failure
to comply with the Rules of Appellate Procedure, we find that the defect in
Appellants’ brief does not impede our ability to render meaningful appellate
review; therefore, we decline to find waiver on this basis. Id.

                                           -7-
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(unpublished mem.),7 to conclude that the M.R.F., III Court’s discussion

about prospective adoptive parents’ standing in dependency matters was

dicta. Id. at 26-31. Appellants contend that the enactment of 42 Pa.C.S. §

6336.1(a) did not overrule this Court’s decisions in Griffin and Mitch, and

that M.R.F., III remains binding precedent. Id. Therefore, Appellants assert

that the trial court erred by concluding that Appellants lacked standing and by

denying their motion to intervene.

       The Agency and GAL respond that the trial court did not err in concluding

that Appellants lacked standing to intervene in the dependency action because

Appellants did not have legal custody of Children. Agency’s Brief at 21-23;

GAL’s Brief at 4-6.

       With respect to standing, our Supreme Court has stated:

       Issues of standing generally raise pure questions of law for which
       we employ de novo review of a trial court’s decision. . . . Where
       factual findings and credibility determinations are at issue, we will
       accept them insofar as they are supported by the record. In . . .
       appeals of child custody and dependency decisions, our plenary
       scope of review is “of the broadest type;” that is, an appellate
       court is not bound by the trial court’s inferences drawn from its
       findings of fact, and is compelled to perform a comprehensive
       review of the record for assurance the findings and credibility
       determinations are competently supported.

                                       *       *   *

       In Pennsylvania, the doctrine of standing is a judicially-created
       tool intended to “winnow out” litigants with no direct interest in
       the matter, and to otherwise protect against improper parties.
____________________________________________

7 See Pa.R.A.P. 126(b) (providing that unpublished non-precedential decisions

of the Superior Court filed after May 1, 2019, may be cited for their persuasive
value).

                                           -8-
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       Consequently, where the General Assembly expressly prescribes
       the parties who may pursue a particular course of action in
       Pennsylvania courts, legislative enactments may further enlarge
       or distill these judicially-applied principles. See In re C.L.P., 126
       A.3d 985, 988 n.4, 990-91 (Pa. Super. 2015) (grandparents
       lacked standing under Juvenile Act[8] to intervene in dependency
       matter, but custody statute authorized grandparents standing to
       pursue custody of grandchildren who were adjudicated
       dependent). Standing is a threshold issue and must be resolved
       before proceeding to the merits of the underlying action.

In re K.N.L., 284 A.3d 121, 132-33, 136-37 (Pa. 2022) (some citations

omitted and formatting altered).

       The Juvenile Act governs dependency proceedings.         The Juvenile Act

provides that all parties to a dependency proceeding are entitled to counsel

and have the right to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses.            42

Pa.C.S. §§ 6337, 6338(a).

       However, this Court has explained:

       Although the Juvenile Act does not define “party,” case law from
       this Court has conferred the status of party to a dependency
       proceeding on three classes of persons: (1) the parents of the
       juvenile whose dependency status is at issue; (2) the legal
       custodian of the juvenile whose dependency status is at issue, or
       (3) the person whose care and control of the juvenile is in
       question. These categories logically stem from the fact that upon
       an adjudication of dependency, the court has the authority to
       remove a child from the custody of his or her parents or legal
       custodian.

L.C., II, 900 A.2d at 381 (citations omitted).

       Section 6336.1 of the Juvenile Act provides, in relevant part:

____________________________________________

8 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6301-6375.

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       The court shall direct the county agency or juvenile probation
       department to provide the child’s foster parent, preadoptive
       parent or relative providing care for the child with timely notice of
       the hearing. The court shall provide the child’s foster parent,
       preadoptive parent or relative providing care for the child the right
       to be heard at any hearing under this chapter. Unless a foster
       parent, preadoptive parent or relative providing care for a child
       has been awarded legal custody pursuant to section 6357 (relating
       to rights and duties of legal custodian), nothing in this section
       shall give the foster parent, preadoptive parent or relative
       providing care for the child legal standing in the matter being
       heard by the court.

42 Pa.C.S. § 6336.1(a).

       Prior to the enactment of Section 6336.1(a) on January 1, 1999,9 this

Court held that in dependency matters, prospective adoptive parents had

standing to contest an agency’s decision to remove a child from the

prospective adoptive parents’ care. See Griffin, 690 A.2d at 1201 (holding

that the prospective adoptive parents had standing to appeal from the order

removing two children from their care); Mitch, 556 A.2d at 423-24

(recognizing that the prospective adoptive parents had standing to petition for

the return of the child to their custody).

       In reaching that conclusion, this Court explained that

       [p]rospective adoptive parents, unlike foster parents, have an
       expectation of permanent custody which, though it may be
       contingent upon the agency’s ultimate approval, is nevertheless
       genuine and reasonable.      Because of this expectation of
       permanency, prospective adoptive parents are encouraged to
       form emotional bonds with the child from the first day of the
       placement. By removing the child from the care of the prospective
       adoptive parents, the agency forecloses the possibility of
____________________________________________

9 See Act of Dec. 15, 1998, P.L. 949, No. 126.

                                          - 10 -
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       adoption. In light of the expectation of permanent custody that
       attends an adoptive placement, an agency’s decision to remove a
       child constitutes a direct and substantial injury to prospective
       adoptive parents. Because prospective adoptive parents, unlike
       foster parents, suffer a direct and substantial injury when an
       agency removes a child from them, we see no reason in law or
       policy whey we should limit their standing to sue for custody.

Griffin, 690 A.2d at 1201 (quoting Mitch, 556 A.2d at 423).10

       In M.R.F., III, the preadoptive foster parents11 filed a motion to

intervene in the dependency proceedings for the foster child in their care.

M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d at 1053. At the hearing on the foster parents’ motion

to intervene, an agency caseworker testified that the foster parents were “a

preadoptive placement resource” and that they had completed training and

received an adoption          certification    from the   Statewide   Adoption and

Permanency Network (SWAN). Id. at 1053-54. The trial court found that the

foster parents had failed to establish “that they had attained the status of

prospective adoptive foster parents[,]”, concluded that they lacked standing,

and denied the motion to intervene. Id. at 1054, 1057.

       On appeal, this Court reiterated that in general, foster parents are not

parties to a dependency proceeding and do not have standing to participate

____________________________________________

10 In Mitch, the foster parents entered into an “adoptive placement
agreement” with the county agency. See Mitch, 556 A.2d at 419-20. The
juvenile court in Griffin had issued an order recognizing the foster parents as
prospective adoptive parents. See Griffin, 690 A.2d at 1201.

11 The M.R.F., III Court noted that the trial court and the parties used the

terms    “preadoptive   parent”    and    “prospective    adoptive     parent”
interchangeably and treated them as identical for the purposes of that appeal.
M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d at 1054 n.2.

                                          - 11 -
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under Section 6336.1(a). Id. at 1055-56. The M.R.F., III Court then noted

that “our case law has carved a narrow exception to permit the limited

participation of a foster resource [parent] who has attained prospective-

adoptive status: [in that] prospective adoptive parents have standing to

contest the child welfare agency’s decision to remove a child it placed

with them in anticipation for adoption.” Id. at 1056 (citing Griffin, 690 A.2d

at 1201; Mitch, 556 A.2d at 423) (emphases added). Ultimately, the M.R.F.,

III Court concluded that the trial court correctly denied the foster parents’

motion for intervention “because the purpose of [the foster parents’]

intervention, i.e., to protest [the m]other’s increased visitation and to request

the initiation of further proceedings under the Adoption Act, exceeds the

limited scope of participation that In re Griffin permits.” Id. at 1058.

      In K.R., the trial court determined that a foster mother “lacked standing

to participate in the hearing [regarding the removal of the foster child from

her home], in terms of presenting evidence and cross-examining witnesses,

but that she had the right to notice and the opportunity to be heard.” K.R.,

2020 WL 3989162, at *2. On appeal, the foster mother challenged the trial

court’s holding that she lacked standing. Id. at *3. The K.R. Court concluded

that the foster mother was not a party because she was not the child’s parent,

legal custodian, or the person whose care and control of the child was in

question. Id. at *5. The K.R. Court also noted that the foster mother could

not establish standing under Section 6336.1(a) because she had never been

granted legal custody of the child. Id. Further, K.R. observed that Griffin

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and Mitch were no longer applicable “[b]ecause Section 6336.1(a) plainly

changes this [Court’s] prior case law, we conclude that a foster parent is not

entitled to any form of standing in a dependency proceeding absent an award

of legal custody, regardless of his or her ‘prospective adoptive’ status.” Id.

at *5 n.7 (citation omitted). The K.R. Court distinguished the discussion of

the continued validity of Griffin and Mitch in M.R.F., III as dicta12 because

that discussion “was not essential to that opinion’s holding . . . .” Id. (citations

omitted).

       It is well-established that “it is beyond the power of a Superior Court

panel [of three judges] to overrule a prior decision of the Superior Court,

except in circumstances where intervening authority by our Supreme Court

calls into question a previous decision of this Court.” E.C.S. v. M.C.S., 256

A.3d 449, 456 (Pa. Super. 2021) (citation omitted and formatting altered).

However, “this Court, sitting en banc, may overrule the decision of a three-

judge panel of this Court.” Salsberg v. Mann, 262 A.3d 1267, 1271 n.3 (Pa.

Super. 2021) (en banc) (citation omitted).

       Here, the trial court explained:

       [Appellants] rely on In [re] M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d 1050 (Pa.
       Super. 2018) as the reason why they are permitted to intervene
       and have party standing to contest a move. The court finds the
____________________________________________

12 Obiter dictum (plural form “obiter dicta”) is “[a] judicial comment made
while delivering a judicial opinion, but one that is unnecessary to the decision
in the case and therefore not precedential (although it may be considered
persuasive).” Klar v. Dairy Farmers of Am., Inc., 300 A.3d 361, 383 n.104
(Pa. 2023) (quoting Obiter Dictum, BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY (11th ed.
2019)).

                                          - 13 -
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      footnote 7 of [In re K.R., 669 EDA 2019, 2020 WL 3989162 (Pa.
      Super. filed July 15, 2020) (unpublished mem.)] persuasive. . . .

                                 *     *      *

      The dicta of M.R.F., III has no precedential value. The court
      granted the request of the Agency to remove [] Children from
      [Appellants’] home on an emergent basis on March 2[8], 2023.
      [Appellants] did not seek to intervene in the case. Then the
      Agency requested to modify the placement of [] Children and
      remove [] Children from [Appellants’] home on April 11, 2023.
      [Appellants] did not seek to intervene in the case. [Appellants]
      did not seek to intervene until after the court made the decision
      to remove [] Children from their care on April 20, 2023.

      [Appellants] did not seek to intervene in the case in a timely
      manner.     Moreover, the legislature enacted Section 6336.1
      specifically stating that preadoptive parents have no party
      standing. Unless and until the Pennsylvania legislature changes
      Section 6336.1, Section 6336.1(a) plainly changes prior case law,
      and a foster parent is not entitled to any form of standing in a
      dependency proceeding absent an award of legal custody.

Trial Ct. Op. at 5-6 (some formatting altered).

      Based on our review of the record, we disagree with the trial court’s

conclusions.   Although we recognize that foster parents are generally not

considered parties in a dependency action, see M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d at 1055;

L.C., II, 900 A.2d at 381, this Court has continued to hold that prospective

adoptive parents can establish standing as parties to intervene in dependency

proceedings for the limited purpose of contesting an agency’s decision to

remove a child from their care. See M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d at 1056 (discussing

Mitch and Griffin and explaining that the “prospective adoptive parent”

exception remains viable following the enactment of Section 6336.1(a)).

Although the K.R. Court dismissed the M.R.F., III Court’s analysis of the

                                     - 14 -
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prospective adoptive parent exception as dicta, see K.R., 2020 WL 3989162,

at *5 n.7, we observe that the K.R. decision is an unpublished memorandum,

therefore its analysis of M.R.F., III, a precedential opinion, is limited to its

persuasive value and is not binding. Accordingly, any court considering these

issues is free to agree or disagree with the K.R. court’s conclusions concerning

M.R.F., III. On this record, for the reasons discussed herein, we conclude

that the trial court erred in concluding that Appellants lacked standing based

on K.R.13

       In sum, because Appellants may have standing14 to intervene in the

underlying dependency matters, we conclude that the trial court erred by

denying Appellants’ motion for intervention15 without a hearing. See M.R.F.,

____________________________________________

13 See Pa.R.A.P. 126(b) (stating that non-precedential decisions filed by this

Court after May 1, 2019 may be cited for persuasive value). Only this Court
sitting en banc or the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can determine if M.R.F.,
III should be overruled. See generally Salsberg, 262 A.3d at 1271 n.3;
see also E.C.S., 256 A.3d at 456.

14 We emphasize that the “prospective adoptive parent” standing exception is

limited to contesting an agency’s decision to remove a child it placed with the
prospective adoptive parents in anticipation of adoption. See M.R.F., III,
182 A.3d at 1056 (explaining that this exception permits “the limited
participation” of prospective adoptive parents in a dependency matter “to
contest [an] agency’s decision to remove [a] foster child from their physical
custody” (citation omitted)).

15 We note that an appeal does not lie from an order denying a motion for

reconsideration. See generally Karschner v. Karschner, 703 A.2d 61, 62
(Pa. Super. 1997). Therefore, with respect to the appeals at 854 MDA 2023
and 855 MDA 2023, we limit our discussion to the trial court’s order denying
Appellants’ motion for intervention.

                                          - 15 -
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III, 182 A.3d at 1056; Griffin, 690 A.2d at 1201; Mitch, 556 A.2d at 423.

Here, on this record, the trial court ordered the removal of Children and

modified their placement without a hearing. Therefore, the trial court did not

adjudicate whether Appellants had standing as parties to intervene as

prospective preadoptive parents or alternatively, as persons whose care and

control of Children were in question. For these reasons, we vacate the trial

court’s April 20, 2023 orders modifying Children’s placement at 812 MDA 2023

and 813 MDA 2023, and the trial court’s May 17, 2023 orders denying

Appellants’ motion for intervention at 854 MDA 2023 and 855 MDA 2023. We

remand for the trial court to hold a hearing to determine whether Appellants

have standing as parties to intervene in the dependency matter to contest the

removal of Children as prospective adoptive parents or as persons whose care

and control of Children is in question.16 See M.R.F., III, 182 A.3d at 1054-

55, 1057-58 (reflecting that the juvenile court held a hearing on the foster

parents’ petition to intervene because there was evidence supporting their

claim that they had attained the status of prospective adoptive parents);

Pa.R.J.C.P. 1133(B) (providing that a juvenile court shall hold a hearing before

ruling on a petition to intervene).

       We note that, notwithstanding our vacatur of the trial court’s April 20,

2023 orders modifying Children’s placement, we do not disturb the trial court’s

March 28, 2023 orders granting the Agency’s emergency motion for
____________________________________________

16 Because of our disposition, we decline to address Appellants’ remaining
issues.

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J-A27016-23

modification of placement. This will maintain the status quo while the trial

court addresses Appellants’ petition to intervene on remand.

      Orders vacated. Remanded for further proceedings consistent with this

memorandum. Jurisdiction relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Benjamin D. Kohler, Esq.
Prothonotary

Date: 3/19/2024

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