Opinion
2013-09-26
In re DAYJORE ISAIAH M., etc., and Another, Dependent Children Under The Age of Eighteen Years, etc., Dominique Shaniqua M., etc., Respondent–Appellant, Lutheran Social Services of New York, Petitioner–Respondent.
Steven N. Feinman, White Plains, for appellant. Carrieri & Carrieri, P.C., Mineola (Ralph R. Carrieri of counsel), for respondent.
Steven N. Feinman, White Plains, for appellant. Carrieri & Carrieri, P.C., Mineola (Ralph R. Carrieri of counsel), for respondent.
Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler, P.C., New York (Frederic P. Schneider of counsel), attorney for the children.
GONZALEZ, P.J., MAZZARELLI, ACOSTA, RENWICK, JJ.
Orders of disposition, Family Court, Bronx County (Monica Drinane, J.), entered on or about September 28, 2012, which, upon a fact-finding determination that respondent-appellant mother had violated the terms of a suspended judgment, terminated her parental rights to the subject children, and committed custody and guardianship of the children to petitioner agency and the Commissioner of Social Services for the purpose of adoption, unanimously affirmed, without costs.
The determination that respondent had violated the terms of a suspended judgment is supported by a preponderance of the evidence ( see Matter of Isiah Steven A. [Anne Elizabeth Pierre L.], 100 A.D.3d 559, 560, 955 N.Y.S.2d 10 [1st Dept. 2012], lv. denied20 N.Y.3d 859, 2013 WL 535792 [2013] ). The record shows that respondent failed to consistently visit with the children, participate in individual therapy, obtain suitable housing for herself and the children, and obtain a source of income ( see id.; see also Matter of Lourdes O., 52 A.D.3d 203, 203, 859 N.Y.S.2d 78 [1st Dept. 2008] ).
A preponderance of the evidence also supports the determination that termination of respondent's parental rights is in the children's best interests ( Matter of Star Leslie W., 63 N.Y.2d 136, 147–148, 481 N.Y.S.2d 26, 470 N.E.2d 824 [1984] ). At the time of the dispositional hearing, respondent had not obtained suitable housing or a source of income. Further, the children have been in the same foster home for at least three years, and their foster mother, who has provided for their special needs, wishes to adopt them ( see Matter of Isiah Steven A., 100 A.D.3d at 560, 955 N.Y.S.2d 10).