Opinion
2012-06-20
In the Matter of CYRAIA B. (Anonymous), appellant. Administration for Children's Services, petitioner-respondent; Carduck B. (Anonymous), respondent-respondent.
Steven Banks, New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler and Marcia Egger of counsel), attorney for the child, the appellant Cyraia B. David Schnall, Jamaica, N.Y., for respondent-respondent.
Steven Banks, New York, N.Y. (Tamara A. Steckler and Marcia Egger of counsel), attorney for the child, the appellant Cyraia B. David Schnall, Jamaica, N.Y., for respondent-respondent.
In a proceeding pursuant to Family Court Act article 10, Cyraia B. appeals from an order of the Family Court, Queens County (Arias, J.), dated August 24, 2011, which, after a fact-finding hearing, determined that the petitioner failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the father neglected her, and dismissed the petition.
ORDERED that the order is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The Family Court properly determined that the Administration for Children's Services (hereinafter ACS) failed to meet its burden of proving that the father neglected the subject child on the ground of mental illness or domestic violence committed against the child's mother ( seeFamily Ct. Act § 1012[f] [i][B] ). The evidence presented failed to establish a causal connection between the father's mental illness and any impairment or imminent risk of impairment to the child's physical, mental, or emotional health ( see Matter of Joseph A. [ Fausat O.], 91 A.D.3d 638, 639, 937 N.Y.S.2d 250;Matter of Jayvien E. [ Marisol T.], 70 A.D.3d 430, 436, 894 N.Y.S.2d 52;Matter of Tomieke Y., 32 A.D.3d 1041, 1042, 821 N.Y.S.2d 652). Likewise, because the instances of the father's domestic violence against the mother were committed outside of the child's presence, ACS failed to establish the requisite causal connection between the domestic violence and an impairment or risk of impairment of the child's physical, mental, or emotional health ( see Nicholson v. Scoppetta, 3 N.Y.3d 357, 369, 787 N.Y.S.2d 196, 820 N.E.2d 840; Matter of Larry O., 13 A.D.3d 633, 787 N.Y.S.2d 119;cf. Matter of Elijah J. [ Phillip J.], 77 A.D.3d 835, 909 N.Y.S.2d 375;Matter of Briana F. [ Oswaldo F.], 69 A.D.3d 718, 718–719, 892 N.Y.S.2d 526;Matter of Errol S., 66 A.D.3d 579, 886 N.Y.S.2d 604).