Court Opinion

ID: 9905505
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-11-29 17:10:56.624504+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:39.134178
License: Public Domain

J-S34010-23

                                  2023 PA Super 245

  IN THE INTEREST OF: K.C., A                  :   IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
  MINOR                                        :        PENNSYLVANIA
                                               :
                                               :
  APPEAL OF: G.C., FATHER                      :
                                               :
                                               :
                                               :
                                               :   No. 487 WDA 2023

               Appeal from the Order Entered March 31, 2023
   In the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Juvenile Division at
                     No(s): CP-02-DP00001169-2019

BEFORE: LAZARUS, J., STABILE, J., and MURRAY, J.

OPINION BY LAZARUS, J.:                            FILED: November 29, 2023

       G.C. (Father)1 appeals from the dependency order,2 entered in the Court

of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, changing the placement goal of K.C.

____________________________________________

1 Mother has written a letter “join[ing Father]’s brief insofar as [she] agree[s]

that the trial court acted prematurely in changing [Child’s p]ermanency [g]oal
to ‘Subsidized Permanent Legal Custodianship.’” Mother’s Juvenile Court
Project Letter, 8/1/23.

2 Generally, orders changing a placement goal are considered final.       See In
re H.S.W.C.-B., 836 A.3d 908 (Pa. 2003) (order granting status change final
when entered). However, we are aware that the trial court highlighted the
importance of the parties reaching an agreement regarding visitation and that
“[o]nce the follow-up meeting [to determine visitation] has occurred, the
[c]ourt believes it is possible for PLC to be promptly finalized so that [Child]’s
case [can] be closed. Permanency Review Order, 3/28/23, at 2 (emphasis
added). Despite the fact that this language may imply that the goal change
order is not final for appeal purposes, we note that when permanent legal
custodianship is granted, visitation issues are no longer within the purview of
the juvenile court division. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. at § 6351(a)(2.1) (“The court
shall refer issues related to support and continuing visitation by the parent to
the section of the court of common pleas that regularly determines support
and visitation.”). Thus, we conclude that the instant appeal is taken from a
(Footnote Continued Next Page)
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(Child) (born 10/2017) from reunification to permanent legal custodianship

(PLC) – non-relative.3 See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6351(a)(2.1).4 After careful review,

we affirm.

       On September 30, 2019, Child was diagnosed with failure to thrive,

requiring, among other things, that Parents implement a structured feeding

plan, provide meals in a highchair, offer small portions of food at each meal,

and limit distractions while eating. Child’s weight had dropped below the third

percentile for children her age and gender. In early October 2019, Child was
____________________________________________

final order changing Child’s permanency goal.        See also Trial Court
Supplemental Opinion, 10/27/23, at 6 (court designating instant order final
where PLC arrangements in Allegheny County “do not lend themselves to
simultaneous entry of the goal change order and the PLC order”).

3 See 2019 Pa. HB 856, Chapter 31 (Family Finding and Kinship Care), § 3102

(Definitions) (defining “Permanent legal custodian” as “[a] person to whom
legal custody of the child has been given by order of a court pursuant to 42
Pa.C.S.[A.] § 6351(a)(2.1)”).

4 Section 6351(a)(2.1) provides, if a child is found to be dependent, the court

may make the following order of disposition “best suited to the safety,
protection, and physical, mental, and moral welfare of the child:

       (2.1) Subject to conditions and limitations as the court prescribes,
       transfer permanent legal custody to an individual resident in or
       outside this Commonwealth, including any relative, who, after
       study by the probation officer or other person or agency
       designated by the court, is found by the court to be qualified to
       receive and care for the child. A court order under this paragraph
       may set forth the temporary visitation rights of the parents. The
       court shall refer issues related to support and continuing visitation
       by the parent to the section of the court of common pleas that
       regularly determines support and visitation.

42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6351(a)(2.1).

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admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP) to address her weight

loss issues. On October 16, 2019, Child was gaining weight in CHP as a result

of being put on a feeding plan; however, hospital staff noted the Child had an

oral aversion resulting from behavioral issues. See Stipulations in No. CP-

02-AP-0008-22, 7/14/22, at 7(h). CHP agreed to allow Parents and Child to

move to a “nesting room” in CHP where Parents would be responsible for

feeding Child for the week.      While there, Child would be weighed daily.

Parents met with hospital staff on November 13, 2019, to review the family’s

progress and determine a discharge plan.       Child was discharged to return

home with Parents, with the condition that they return for regular weight

checks at CHP.

      On November 25, 2019, the Allegheny County Office of Children Youth

and Families (CYF) filed an application for emergency protective custody of

Child, who had been readmitted to CHP three days prior.         The application

alleged that Child “has been diagnosed with failure to thrive[,] . . . has severe

eating difficulties, and has been hospitalized at C[HP] and/or admitted to the

Children’s Home previously due to losing weight.” Application for Emergency

Protective Custody, 11/25/19, at 3. CYS alleged that at the time Child was

admitted to Children’s Home, Parents were homeless, and that “at this time,

[Child] cannot safely return to the care of her parents when discharged from

C[HP].”   Id.    That same day, the court issued an emergency order for

protective custody of Child, granting legal custody to CYF.

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       On November 29, 2019, Child was placed in her current certified foster

home, provided by Bethany Christian Services, upon discharge from CHP.

Foster parents, R.H. and L.H., are Child’s permanent legal custodians. Child

also resides with her foster brothers. Stephanie Pawlowski, Esquire, from Kids

Voice, was appointed as Child’s guardian ad litem (GAL).5          Child was

adjudicated dependent on January 15, 2020; Parents were granted supervised

visits three times a week. Permanency review hearings were held in June

2020, July 2020, November 2020, and March 2021. After Parents completed

coached visitation with Justice Works, their visits with Child transitioned to

unsupervised in March 2021.

       In May 2021, in response to CYF’s motion to have all future visitation

between Child and Parents supervised, the court ordered Parents have at least

two supervised visits per week in Parents’ home and that “CYF may increase

the frequency of the supervised visits if deemed appropriate, based on

Parents’ consistency and progress[] with the twice-weekly visit.”      Order,

5/25/21. Another permanency hearing was held in July 2021. In October

2021, Father petitioned to have overnight visits with Child. The court denied

Father’s petition, without prejudice to review the request at the next

scheduled permanency review hearing.

       At the next permanency hearing, held on November 4, 2021, the court

found that Child’s placement continued to be necessary and appropriate and
____________________________________________

5 Parents’ three other children were placed in kinship care with maternal
grandparents.

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that both Mother and Father had “moderately” complied with their

permanency plans, but that the placement goal remained return to parent. At

that time, Child had been in placement for 15 of the last 22 months.       Of

significance, the permanency review order noted that “[t]he ongoing dynamic

of Mother relying on Father to provide discipline and redirection continues to

be observed in the visits.” Order, 11/4/21, at ¶ 9.6

       At a February 2022 permanency hearing, the court found Mother had

moderately complied with her permanency plan and that Father had not

complied at all, and, in fact, “remained uninvolved.”      Permanency Review

Order, 2/25/22, at 1. Notably, the court “[found] that Parents have made no

progress toward reunification over the last review period” and that both

Mother’s and Father’s failure to respond to outreach from service providers

has contributed to their delay in receiving vital services. Id. at ¶ 10.

____________________________________________

6 On January 26, 2022, on a related adoption docket, CYF filed a petition to

involuntarily terminate Parents’ parental rights to Child, pursuant to 23
Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2511(a)(2), (5), (8), and (b) of the Adoption Act, 23 Pa.C.S.A.
§§ 2101-2938, and to change the permanency goal from reunification to
adoption. The court held three days of termination hearings in July 2022,
December 2022, and January 2023. On November 3, 2022, the court granted
Parents unsupervised visitation with Child for four hours each week. On
December 6, 2022, the court extended the hours of unsupervised visitation—
from four to eight hours weekly. Child was represented by GAL, Erin
Krotoszynski, Esquire, at the hearings. On January 26, 2023, the court denied
CYF’s petition to terminate, concluding that Father had eliminated the
conditions leading to Child’s placement. The court also denied CYF’s request
to change the goal to adoption. Because we do not have the adoption docket
record before us in this dependency case, we are limited to the facts
surrounding the filing of the termination petition.

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      On June 10, 2022, Father filed another petition to modify his visitation

schedule, seeking to have the visits occur in his home. The court granted the

motion, keeping all visits supervised, but permitting “coached visitation” to

occur in the family home. Order, 6/10/22. On July 8, 2022, however, the

court granted special relief to CYF by ensuring that Parents’ Thursday visits

continue to be supervised and occur at the community center near the

maternal grandparents’ home.       See Special Relief Order, 7/8/22.       At an

August 2022 permanency hearing, therapist Bethany Tintsman testified that

both Father and Mother were making good progress with intensive family

coaching, that Father “has mastered the skills addressed in Phase 1—focusing

on child-directed interaction and strengthening bond between parent and

child)—and that Parents are engaged and equally involved in the sessions.

See Permanency Review Order, 8/3/22, at ¶¶ 8-10.

      On March 3, 2023, CYF filed a motion for goal change from reunification

to permanent legal custodianship. On March 28, 2023, the court held a status

conference and hearing on CYF’s motion for goal change. At the outset of the

hearing, the court noted that in making its decision, it “consider[ed] the entire

record of th[e termination of parental rights] proceeding” as well as “all of the

[permanency] review hearing orders and findings, all of the decisions on

motions []—but, basically, in my view, I’m making a determination based on

the entirety of the record to date.” N.T. Status Conference and Motion for

Goal Change, 3/28/23, at 5-6. At the time of the goal change hearing, Parents

had unsupervised visits with Child twice a week—Tuesdays from 4:00 PM-6:00

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PM and Saturdays from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM—at Parents’ home. Id. at 22.

Parents and CYF had been discussing starting overnight visits with Child, with

another planned meeting to discuss the possibility the following month, in

April.7 Id. at 23, 28.8 In entering his order, the trial judge made it clear that

changing the goal to permanent legal custodianship “includes in it the parents’

visitation with the child. There will not be an order entered without that being

covered.” Id. at 49.

       Father filed a contemporaneous notice of appeal from the court’s goal

change order and a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal. See

Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2). On appeal, Father presents the following issues for our

consideration:

       (1)    Did the trial court err and abuse its discretion in changing
              the permanency goal to [PLC]?

       (2)    Did the trial court commit an error of law or abuse its
              discretion by not allowing Father to move toward
              reunification prior to the date of the hearing by failing to
              increase visits with the minor child, despite Father having
              consistently shown progress and met his goals set by [CYF]?

       (3)    Whether the trial court erred in entering such an order
              changing the goal so soon after it made findings supporting
              reunification in the termination proceedings.

____________________________________________

7 Obsessive self-stimulation while at Parents’ home was one of the main
concerns with permitting Child to have overnight visitation with Parents. Id.
at 24.

8 During the goal change hearing, Father testified that Mother had just been

diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer. Id. at 40.

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      (4)   Whether the trial court erred in changing the permanency
            goal without any guarantee that a visitation schedule would
            be able to be worked out between the parties.

Father’s Brief, at 6 (renumbered).

      It is well settled that “the Juvenile Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6301-6365,

governs the placement and custody of a dependent child.” See In re N.C.,

[] 909 A.2d 818, 823 (Pa. Super. 2006).          The law of this Commonwealth

empowers a Juvenile Court to make an award of permanent legal custody as

a permanency option for a dependent child. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 6351(a)(2.1).

“This Court reviews an order regarding a dependent child’s placement goal

pursuant to an abuse of discretion standard.” See Interest of H.J., 206 A.3d

22, 25 (Pa. Super. 2019). “In order to conclude that the trial court abused its

discretion, we must determine that the court’s judgment was manifestly

unreasonable, that the court did not apply the law, or that the court’s action

was a result of partiality, prejudice, bias[,] or ill will, as shown by the record.”

In re N.C., supra at 822-23 (internal citations and quotations omitted).

      “When considering a request to modify permanency goals, the trial court

must focus on the health and safety of the child, which takes precedence over

all other considerations.” See In re A.H., 763 A.2d 873, 878 (Pa. Super.

2000). To that end, the trial court must consider,

            (1) the continuing necessity for and appropriateness of the
            placement; (2) the extent of compliance with the family
            service plan; (3) the extent of progress made towards
            alleviating the circumstances which necessitated the original
            placement; (4) the appropriateness and feasibility of the
            current placement goal for the child[]; (5) a likely date by
            which the goal for the child might be achieved; (6) the

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            child’s safety; and (7) whether the child has been in
            placement for at least fifteen of the last twenty-two months.
            The best interests of the child, and not the interests of the
            parent, must guide the trial court.

In re A.B., 19 A.3d 1084, 1088-89 (Pa. Super. 2011) (citing 42 Pa.C.S.A. §

6351(f)). See also Pa.R.J.C.P. 1608(D)(1)(q) (at each permanency review

hearing, court must consider “whether the visitation schedule for the child

with the child’s guardian is adequate, unless a finding is made that visitation

is contrary to the safety or well-being of the child”).

      Moreover, although preserving the unity of the family is a purpose
      of [the Juvenile Act], another purpose is to “provide for the care,
      protection, safety, and wholesome mental and physical
      development of children coming within the provisions of this
      chapter.”     42 Pa.C.S.[A.] § 6301(b)(1.1).          Indeed, “[t]he
      relationship of parent and child is a status and not a property right,
      and one in which the state has an interest to protect the best
      interest of the child.” In re E.F.V., [] 461 A.2d 1263, 1267 ([Pa.
      Super.] 1983) (citation omitted).

In re K.C., 903 A.2d 12, 14-15 (Pa. Super. 2006).

      In Pennsylvania, a juvenile court may award permanent legal
      custody to a child’s caretaker pursuant to [s]ection 6351(a)(2.1)
      of the Juvenile Act. This is an arrangement whereby a juvenile
      court discontinues court intervention[,] as well as supervision by
      a county agency, and awards custody of a dependent child, on a
      permanent basis, to a custodian.         Parental rights are not
      terminated. See In re H.V., [] 37 A.3d 588, 589 ([Pa. Super.]
      2012).

                                      *     *   *

      A trial court may consider permanent legal custody, upon the filing
      of a petition by a county children and youth agency that alleges
      the dependent child’s current placement is not safe, and the
      physical, mental, and moral welfare of the child would best be
      served if subsidized permanent legal custodianship (SPLC) were
      granted. See In re S.B., 943 A.2d 973, 983-[]84, [(Pa. Super.

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      2008)]. Upon receipt of this petition, the court must conduct a
      hearing and make specific findings focusing on the best interests
      of the child. See id. In order for the court to declare the
      custodian a “permanent legal custodian[,]” the court must find
      that neither reunification nor adoption is best suited to the child’s
      safety, protection[,] and physical, mental[,] and moral welfare.
      See id.; see also 42 Pa.C[.]S[.]A[.] § 6351(f.1).

In re S.H., 71 A.3d 973, 977-78 (Pa. Super. 2013). See also In re K.T.,

296 A.3d 1085, 1116 n.33 (Pa. 2023) (“PLC is a permanency goal when

neither reunification nor adoption is best suited for the child, 42 Pa.C.S.[A.]

§6351(f.1)(3). For example, a court may grant PLC when a caregiver accepts

legal responsibility [for] a child[,] but is unwilling or unable to adopt.”).

      In In re S.H., supra, our Court held that “neither the Juvenile Act nor

the Adoption and Safe Families [A]ct of 1997 prohibit[s] a parent from

petitioning the trial court to regain custody of a child who is the subject of an

award of permanent legal custody.” Id. at 982. See Office of Children and

Youth and Families Bulletin 3130-10-02/3140-10-03, at 4 (July 30, 2010)

(recognizing permanent legal custody is not, in fact, permanent, where

parents have right to petition court for custody of child); PA Judicial Deskbook,

Juvenile Law Center, 4th ed. (2004), at 151, 155-56 (acknowledging parents

who may not be able to rehabilitate themselves within given period of time

may be able to reunify with child following establishment of PLC). To hold

otherwise would “amount of a de facto termination of [a parent’s] legal and

primary physical custody rights.” Id. at 979.

      After a comprehensive review of the parties’ briefs, relevant case law

and statutes, and the certified record on appeal, we conclude that the court

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correctly determined that its order changing the goal to PLC was in Child’s

best interest. See 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 6351(f.1)(3) (based upon determinations

under subsection 6351(f) and all relevant evidence, court shall consider “[i]f

and when the child will be placed with a legal custodian in cases where the

return to the child’s parent, guardian[,] or custodian or being placed for

adoption is not best suited to the safety, protection[,] and physical, mental[,]

and moral welfare of the child.”); id. at § 6351(g) (“On the basis of the

determination made under subsection (f.1), the court shall order the

continuation, modification[,] or termination of placement or other disposition

which is best suited to the safety, protection and physical, mental[,] and moral

welfare of the child.”). Child has been in placement for over three years (more

than half of her life) and, “[w]hile Parents have made recent progress with the

implementation of services, there is no evidence that Parents, together, are

capable of sustaining this progress.” Trial Court Opinion, 6/27/23, at 12. See

also In re H.V., supra (trial court erred changing goal to PLC where children

were in placement for three years, but mother alleviated circumstances that

led to children’s placement, threat of father no longer existed, children wanted

to be returned to mother and family home, and mother’s home “was [the]

only home [children] knew for three, seven[,] and nine years since their

respective” births).

      Although Father has substantially complied with his service plan goals,

progressed to some periods of unsupervised visits, and shown he is capable

of parenting Child, the court astutely observed that, without Mother having

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the same parenting capability,9 Father will simply be unable to provide Child

with the “irreducible minimum requirements,”10 especially where he is also a

parent to three other young children.

       In order for the court to have granted the current goal change, CYF was

required to “prove that reunification or adoption is not best suited to [C]hild’s

safety, protection[,] and physical, mental[,] and moral welfare.” In re S.H.,

supra at 979-80. The record bears out that Child continues to have significant

emotional, behavioral, and medical needs that require constant supervision

and close monitoring. Child’s foster family has created a loving and stable

environment for Child to ensure that she is properly monitored and supervised

so that she is properly fed and is safe in their home. In re M.T., 101 A.3d

1163, 1175 (Pa. Super. 2014) (holding court should consider bond between

child and parents, foster parents, and siblings when deciding whether to

change goal). Moreover, as evidenced by the court’s denial of CYF’s petition

to terminate Father’s parental rights to Child, see supra at n.6, the parent-

child bond here is so strong that it would not be in Child’s best interest to

sever same. See PA Judicial Deskbook, Juvenile Law Center, 4th ed. (2004),

____________________________________________

9 Mother has made minimal progress toward alleviating the circumstances that

led to Child’s placement.

10 In re J.W., 578 A.2d 952, 958 (Pa. Super. 1990) (“Essential parental care

. . . denotes certain irreducible minimum requirements to which all children
are entitled from their parents, including adequate housing, clothing, food[,]
love, and supervision.”) (emphasis added).

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at 155-56 (PLC appropriate permanency option where child has bond with

parent that precludes termination of parental rights).

      Here, the trial judge, who was well-acquainted with the parties, combed

through the voluminous evidence in the parties’ Juvenile and Family Division

matters and determined that it was in Child’s best interest to change the

“permanency goal [to] legal custody [so] that she [can] absolutely continue

her important and positive relationship with her parents and her siblings[.]”

N.T. Status Conference and Motion for Goal Change, 3/28/23, at 14. See In

re K.J., 27 A.3d 236 (Pa. Super. 2011) (“It is this Court’s responsibility to

ensure that the record represents a comprehensive inquiry and that the

hearing judge has applied the appropriate legal principles to that record.”).

      Noting the highly deferential standard we afford to a dependency court,

we reiterate that:

      we are not in a position to make the close calls based on fact-
      specific determinations. Not only are our trial judges observing
      the parties during the hearing, but usually, as in this case, they
      have presided over several other hearings with the same parties
      and have a longitudinal understanding of the case and the best
      interests of the individual child involved. Thus, we must defer to
      the trial judges who see and hear the parties and can determine
      the credibility to be placed on each witness and, premised
      thereon, gauge the likelihood of success of the current
      permanency plan.        Even if an appellate court would have
      [reached] a different conclusion based on the cold record, we are
      not in a position to reweigh the evidence and the credibility
      determinations of the trial court.

In re R.J.T., 9 A.3d 1179, 1190 (Pa. 2010). Although undoubtedly a difficult

decision for any jurist, the trial judge commendably balanced the best

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interests of Child, which included her need for permanency and stability met

by Foster Parents, with the importance of her maintaining a relationship with

Father.11 Because the court’s findings are supported by the record, we affirm.

In re A.B., 19 A.3d 1084, 1089 (Pa. Super. 2011) (citations and quotation

marks omitted) (“As this Court has held, a child’s life simply cannot be put on

hold in the hope that the parent will summon the ability to handle the

responsibilities of parenting.”).

       In his second and fourth issues, which we address together, Father

contends that the court erred by not permitting him to “move toward

reunification prior to the date of the [goal change] hearing, by failing to

increase visits with [C]hild[.]” Father’s Brief, at 6. He also claims that the

court erred when it changed the goal to PLC “without any guarantee that a

visitation schedule would be able to be worked out between the parties.” Id.

       Despite Father’s preference that he have overnight, unsupervised visits

with Child, the record shows that since May 2021, Father’s visits have

progressed to not only being unsupervised, but also are now held in his home.

Additionally, we remind Father that the use of the term “[PLC] does not confer

or divest parents of any substantive rights but[,] rather[,] addresses the

proper venue for visitation and support matters following the grant of a

permanent legal custody arrangement.” In re S.H., 71 A.3d at 979 (emphasis

added).      Father may continue to seek overnight visits or increased
____________________________________________

11 We remind Father that he is not precluded from petitioning the trial court

to regain custody Child. See In re S.H., supra at 982.

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unsupervised visitation with Child, albeit through family court and not juvenile

court. See 23 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 5324, 5338.

      Finally, Father argues that the trial court erred by “changing the goal so

soon after it made findings supporting reunification in the termination

proceedings.” Father’s Brief, at 6. First, we note that the court’s decision to

deny termination did not support reunification, rather it acknowledged that

CYF did not prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that changing the goal

to adoption was in Child’s best interests. Moreover, as the court acknowledges

in its Rule 1925(a) opinion, “the Juvenile Act does not impose any time

restriction on courts as to when they may next consider a goal change

following the denial of a [termination of parental rights] petition.” Trial Court

Opinion, 6/27/23, at 16.     Rather the Juvenile Act mandates that a court

consider the appropriateness of the permanency goal at each scheduled

permanency review hearing.

      Order affirmed.

DATE: 11/29/2023

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