# In The Interest of: T.W., a Minor > Superior Court of Pennsylvania · February 26, 2016 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3180915 ## Case - **Court:** Superior Court of Pennsylvania - **Decided:** February 26, 2016 - **Precedential status:** Unpublished - **Opinion:** Opinion - **Cited by:** 0 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/3180915 ## Opinion text J-S10001-16 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 IN THE INTEREST OF: T.W., A MINOR : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: A.W., FATHER : No. 2113 EDA 2015 Appeal from the Order Entered June 17, 2015 In the Court of Common Pleas of Monroe County Domestic Relations at No(s): CP-45-DP-0000064-2012 BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., BENDER, P.J.E., and PLATT, J.* MEMORANDUM BY GANTMAN, P.J.: FILED FEBRUARY 26, 2016 Appellant, A.W. (“Father”), appeals from the order entered in the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, which involuntarily terminated his parental rights to minor child, T.W. We affirm. In its written opinion, the trial court fully sets forth the relevant facts and procedural history of this case.1 Therefore, we will only briefly summarize them. Mother and Father have had a volatile relationship since before T.W. was born in 2012. The Monroe County Children and Youth Services (“CYS”) became involved in this case on June 30, 2012, upon learning that T.W. had been injured when Father threw her, in her car seat, out of a vehicle during an argument with Mother. T.W. was placed in CYS’ custody on July 1, 2012, because Mother and Father were both incarcerated; T.W. has been in foster care since that time. The court adjudicated T.W. 1 (See Trial Court Opinion, filed April 11, 2014, at 1-14) (Permanency/goal change appeal). _____________________________ *Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S10001-16 dependent on August 3, 2012, with an initial permanency goal of reunification. Following several review hearings, the court changed the permanency goal to adoption on January 24, 2014. Mother filed an appeal from that order, which this Court affirmed on August 22, 2014. See In re T.W., 106 A.3d 172 (Pa.Super. 2014) (unpublished memorandum). Meanwhile, on December 3, 2013, CYS filed a petition for involuntary termination of the parental rights of Mother and Father. The court conducted multiple hearings on the termination petition throughout 2014 and 2015. On June 12, 2015, the court terminated Mother’s and Father’s parental rights to T.W.2 Father timely filed on July 10, 2015, a pro se notice of appeal and a concise statement of errors complained of on appeal pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1925(a)(2)(i). The court did not consider Father’s appeal and Rule 1925(a) statement, as he was represented by counsel. Thereafter, counsel filed an amended notice of appeal and a Rule 1925(a)(2)(i) statement on July 17, 2015. Father also filed a pro se motion requesting a new hearing based on ineffective assistance of counsel, which the court dismissed. Father’s counsel subsequently filed a petition to withdraw. The court granted counsel’s petition and appointed new counsel to assist Father on appeal. Father raises the following issues for our review: WHERE FATHER IMMEDIATELY UNDERTOOK HIS FAMILY 2 Mother filed a separate appeal from the order terminating her parental rights, which is docketed at No. 2188 EDA 2015 (J-S10002-16). -2- J-S10001-16 SERVICE PLAN OBJECTIVES, VISITED THE CHILD CONSISTENTLY, AND REFRAINED FROM DOMESTIC DISPUTES, DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ITS FINDING THAT [CYS] PRESENTED CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT FATHER FAILED TO PERFORM PARENTAL DUTIES FOR A PERIOD OF MORE THAN SIX MONTHS? WHERE CHILD WAS PLACED BECAUSE OF MOTHER’S ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE OF THE CHILD DURING A DOMESTIC DISPUTE, MOTHER WAS CONVICTED OF FILING A FALSE POLICE REPORT, FATHER WAS CLEARED OF CHARGES, AND FATHER REFRAINED FROM INVOLVEMENT IN DOMESTIC DISPUTES, DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ITS FINDING THAT [CYS] PRESENTED CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT FATHER FAILED TO REMEDY THE CONDITIONS AND CAUSES OF THE ALLEGED ABUSE, AND REMOVAL OF THE CHILD? WHERE FATHER COMPLETED THE COUNSELING, PARENTING AND ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES IN THE FAMILY SERVICE PLAN, HAD TAKEN ADDITIONAL CLASSES ON HIS OWN, SEPARATED FROM MOTHER AND REFRAINED FROM DOMESTIC DISPUTES, DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ITS FINDING THAT [CYS] PRESENTED CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT TERMINATION WAS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD? WHERE [CYS’] WITNESS TESTIFIED TO A SIGNIFICANT BOND BETWEEN FATHER AND CHILD, FATHER TOOK STEPS TO MINIMIZE END-OF-VISIT TRAUMA TO THE CHILD, AND THE TRIAL COURT INSTEAD FOCUSED ON THE CHILD’S BOND WITH HER FOSTER PARENTS, DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FINDING THAT TERMINATION OF FATHER’S RIGHTS BEST SERVED THE NEEDS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILD? WHERE FATHER REFRAINED FROM INVOLVEMENT IN INCIDENTS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE AND CONTINUED TO COMPLY WITH THE FAMILY SERVICE PLAN, SEVERAL MONTHS PRIOR TO THE FILING OF THE FIRST TERMINATION PETITION, DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN CHARACTERIZING THESE EFFORTS AS “POST-PETITION”? DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR WHERE ITS FINDINGS OF -3- J-S10001-16 FACT WERE NOT SUPPORTED BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE? DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO DETERMINE THAT FATHER WAS REPRESENTED BY INEFFECTIVE COUNSEL, WHERE FATHER WAS PREJUDICED BY COUNSEL’S NUMEROUS ERRORS, INCLUDING FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY INVESTIGATE THE ASSERTIONS MADE BY CYS, AND GATHERING EVIDENCE WHICH COULD REBUFF THOSE ASSERTIONS? (Father’s Brief at 3-4). Appellate review in termination of parental rights cases implicates the following principles: In cases involving termination of parental rights: “our standard of review is limited to determining whether the order of the trial court is supported by competent evidence, and whether the trial court gave adequate consideration to the effect of such a decree on the welfare of the child.” In re Z.P., 994 A.2d 1108, 1115 (Pa.Super. 2010) (quoting In re I.J., 972 A.2d 5, 8 (Pa.Super. 2009)). Absent an abuse of discretion, an error of law, or insufficient evidentiary support for the trial court’s decision, the decree must stand. … We must employ a broad, comprehensive review of the record in order to determine whether the trial court’s decision is supported by competent evidence. In re B.L.W., 843 A.2d 380, 383 (Pa.Super. 2004) (en banc), appeal denied, 581 Pa. 668, 863 A.2d 1141 (2004) (internal citations omitted). Furthermore, we note that the trial court, as the finder of fact, is the sole determiner of the credibility of witnesses and all conflicts in testimony are to be resolved by [the] finder of fact. The burden of proof is on the party seeking termination to establish by -4- J-S10001-16 clear and convincing evidence the existence of grounds for doing so. In re Adoption of A.C.H., 803 A.2d 224, 228 (Pa.Super. 2002) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted). The standard of clear and convincing evidence means testimony that is so clear, direct, weighty, and convincing as to enable the trier of fact to come to a clear conviction, without hesitation, of the truth of the precise facts in issue. In re J.D.W.M., 810 A.2d 688, 690 (Pa.Super. 2002). We may uphold a termination decision if any proper basis exists for the result reached. In re C.S., 761 A.2d 1197, 1201 (Pa.Super. 2000) (en banc). If the court’s findings are supported by competent evidence, we must affirm the court’s decision, even if the record could support an opposite result. In re R.L.T.M., 860 A.2d 190, 191[-92] (Pa.Super. 2004). In re Z.P., supra at 1115-16 (quoting In re Adoption of K.J., 936 A.2d 1128, 1131-32 (Pa.Super. 2007), appeal denied, 597 Pa. 718, 951 A.2d 1165 (2008)). CYS sought involuntary termination of Father’s parental rights on the following grounds: § 2511. Grounds for involuntary termination (a) General Rule.―The rights of a parent in regard to a child may be terminated after a petition filed on any of the following grounds: (1) The parent by conduct continuing for a period of at least six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition either has evidenced a settled purpose of relinquishing parental claim to a child or has refused or failed to perform parental duties. (2) The repeated and continued incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal of the parent has caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence necessary for [her] physical or mental -5- J-S10001-16 well-being and the conditions and causes of the incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal cannot or will not be remedied by the parent. * * * (5) The child has been removed from the care of the parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an agency for a period of at least six months, the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child continue to exist, the parent cannot or will not remedy those conditions within a reasonable period of time, the services or assistance reasonably available to the parent are not likely to remedy the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child within a reasonable period of time and termination of the parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child. * * * (8) The child has been removed from the care of the parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an agency, 12 months or more have elapsed from the date of removal or placement, the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child continue to exist and termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child. * * * (b) Other considerations.―The court in terminating the rights of a parent shall give primary consideration to the developmental, physical and emotional needs and welfare of the child. The rights of a parent shall not be terminated solely on the basis of environmental factors such as inadequate housing, furnishings, income, clothing and medical care if found to be beyond the control of the parent. With respect to any petition filed pursuant to subsection (a)(1), (6) or (8), the court shall not consider any efforts by the parent to remedy the conditions described therein which are first initiated subsequent to the giving of notice of the filing of the petition. -6- J-S10001-16 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 2511(a)(1), (2), (5), (8), and (b). “Parental rights may be involuntarily terminated where any one subsection of Section 2511(a) is satisfied, along with consideration of the subsection 2511(b) provisions.” In re Z.P., supra at 1117. Initially, the focus is on the conduct of the parent. The party seeking termination must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the parent’s conduct satisfies the statutory grounds for termination delineated in Section 2511(a). Only if the court determines that the parent’s conduct warrants termination of his…parental rights does the court engage in the second part of the analysis pursuant to Section 2511(b): determination of the needs and welfare of the child under the standard of best interests of the child. In re L.M., 923 A.2d 505, 511 (Pa.Super. 2007) (internal citations omitted). Termination under Section 2511(a)(1) involves the following: To satisfy the requirements of [S]ection 2511(a)(1), the moving party must produce clear and convincing evidence of conduct, sustained for at least the six months prior to the filing of the termination petition, which reveals a settled intent to relinquish parental claim to a child or a refusal or failure to perform parental duties. In addition, Section 2511 does not require that the parent demonstrate both a settled purpose of relinquishing parental claim to a child and refusal or failure to perform parental duties. Accordingly, parental rights may be terminated pursuant to Section 2511(a)(1) if the parent either demonstrates a settled purpose of relinquishing parental claim to a child or fails to perform parental duties. Once the evidence establishes a failure to perform parental duties or a settled purpose of relinquishing parental rights, the court must engage in three lines of inquiry: (1) the parent’s explanation for his…conduct; (2) the post- -7- J-S10001-16 abandonment contact between parent and child; and (3) consideration of the effect of termination of parental rights on the child pursuant to Section 2511(b). In re Z.S.W., 946 A.2d 726, 730 (Pa.Super. 2008) (internal citations omitted). Regarding the six-month period prior to filing the termination petition: [T]he trial court must consider the whole history of a given case and not mechanically apply the six-month statutory provision. The court must examine the individual circumstances of each case and consider all explanations offered by the parent facing termination of his…parental rights, to determine if the evidence, in light of the totality of the circumstances, clearly warrants the involuntary termination. In re B.,N.M., 856 A.2d 847, 855 (Pa.Super. 2004), appeal denied, 582 Pa. 718, 872 A.2d 1200 (2005). The grounds for termination of parental rights under Section 2511(a)(2), due to parental incapacity that cannot be remedied, are not limited to affirmative misconduct; to the contrary, those grounds may include acts of refusal as well as incapacity to perform parental duties. In re A.L.D., 797 A.2d 326 (Pa.Super. 2002). “Parents are required to make diligent efforts towards the reasonably prompt assumption of full parental responsibilities.” Id. at 340. The fundamental test in termination of parental rights under Section 2511(a)(2) was long ago stated in the case of In re Geiger, 459 Pa. 636, 331 A.2d 172 (1975), where the Pennsylvania Supreme Court announced that under what is now Section 2511(a)(2), “the petitioner for involuntary termination must prove (1) repeated and continued -8- J-S10001-16 incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal; (2) that such incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence; and (3) that the causes of the incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal cannot or will not be remedied.” In Interest of Lilley, 719 A.2d 327, 330 (Pa.Super. 1998). “Termination of parental rights under Section 2511(a)(5) requires that: (1) the child has been removed from parental care for at least six months; (2) the conditions which led to removal and placement of the child continue to exist; and (3) termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child.” In re Z.P., supra at 1118. “[T]o terminate parental rights under Section 2511(a)(8), the following factors must be demonstrated: (1) the child has been removed from parental care for [twelve] months or more from the date of removal; (2) the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child continue to exist; and (3) termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child.” In re Adoption of M.E.P., 825 A.2d 1266, 1275-76 (Pa.Super. 2003). Under Section 2511(b), the court must consider whether termination will meet the child’s needs and welfare. In re C.P., 901 A.2d 516, 520 (Pa.Super. 2006). “Intangibles such as love, comfort, security, and stability are involved when inquiring about the needs and welfare of the child. The court must also discern the nature and status of the parent-child bond, -9- J-S10001-16 paying close attention to the effect on the child of permanently severing the bond.” Id. at 520. Significantly: In this context, the court must take into account whether a bond exists between child and parent, and whether termination would destroy an existing, necessary and beneficial relationship. When conducting a bonding analysis, the court is not required to use expert testimony. Social workers and caseworkers can offer evaluations as well. Additionally, Section 2511(b) does not require a formal bonding evaluation. In re Z.P., supra at 1121 (internal citations omitted). “The statute permitting the termination of parental rights outlines certain irreducible minimum requirements of care that parents must provide for their children, and a parent who cannot or will not meet the requirements within a reasonable time following intervention by the state, may properly be considered unfit and have his parental rights terminated.” In re B.L.L., 787 A.2d 1007, 1013 (Pa.Super. 2001). This Court has said: There is no simple or easy definition of parental duties. Parental duty is best understood in relation to the needs of a child. A child needs love, protection, guidance, and support. These needs, physical and emotional, cannot be met by a merely passive interest in the development of the child. Thus, this court has held that the parental obligation is a positive duty which requires affirmative performance. This affirmative duty encompasses more than a financial obligation; it requires continuing interest in the child and a genuine effort to maintain communication and association with the child. Because a child needs more than a benefactor, parental duty requires that a parent exert [himself] to take and maintain a place of importance in the child’s life. - 10 - J-S10001-16 Parental duty requires that the parent act affirmatively with good faith interest and effort, and not yield to every problem, in order to maintain the parent-child relationship to the best of his…ability, even in difficult circumstances. A parent must utilize all available resources to preserve the parental relationship, and must exercise reasonable firmness in resisting obstacles placed in the path of maintaining the parent-child relationship. Parental rights are not preserved by waiting for a more suitable or convenient time to perform one’s parental responsibilities while others provide the child with [the child’s] physical and emotional needs. In re B.,N.M., supra at 855 (internal citations omitted). “[A] parent’s basic constitutional right to the custody and rearing of his…child is converted, upon the failure to fulfill his…parental duties, to the child’s right to have proper parenting and fulfillment of his…potential in a permanent, healthy, safe environment.” Id. at 856. Importantly, neither Section 2511(a) nor Section 2511(b) requires a court to consider at the termination stage, whether an agency provided a parent with reasonable efforts aimed at reunifying the parent with his child prior to the agency petitioning for termination of parental rights. In re D.C.D., ___ Pa.___, 105 A.3d 662, 672 (2014). An agency’s failure to provide reasonable efforts to a parent does not prohibit the court from granting a petition to terminate parental rights under Section 2511. Id. at ___, 105 A.3d at 675. After a thorough review of the record, the briefs of the parties, the applicable law, and the well-reasoned oral opinion of the Honorable Jonathan Mark, we conclude Father’s issues one through six merit no relief. The trial - 11 - J-S10001-16 court’s oral opinion comprehensively discusses and properly disposes of these questions presented. (See N.T. Oral Opinion, 6/12/15, at 10-42 and attached addendum) (finding: at time of termination hearing, T.W. had been in CYS’ care for approximately 33 months; Mother and Father had volatile relationship that included criminal charges, protections from abuse (“PFA”), and domestic issues; underlying issues between Mother and Father have not been resolved; T.W.’s safety, health and well-being are paramount concerns and must be ensured; neither Mother nor Father has demonstrated current ability to provide requisite assurance of T.W.’s safety; Father consistently fought with CYS over visitations, regarding protocol and confirming appointments; throughout entire case, Father failed to adhere to court’s advisements; under Section 2511(a)(1), Mother and Father made progress towards some of goals but failed to take necessary steps toward reunification with T.W.; Mother and Father failed to perform parental duties for more than six months, as both parents were incarcerated and spent majority of time fighting with each other; CYS met statutory grounds for termination under subsection (a)(1); Mother and Father refused to provide essential parental care, control, and assistance to T.W.; CYS established grounds for termination under Section 2511(a)(2); grounds for termination also existed under Section 2511(a)(8), because T.W. had been removed from Mother and Father’s care for at least twelve months, condition that led to T.W.’s removal still exists, and termination of Mother and Father’s - 12 - J-S10001-16 parental rights best serves needs and welfare of T.W.; court properly considered Mother’s and Father’s post-petition efforts as grounds for termination because termination petition was filed in December 2013, and first termination hearing was not held until one year later; reunification efforts are not valid consideration under subsections (a)(1), (a)(2), and (a)(8); T.W.’s foster family provided love, care, companionship and support that Section 2511(b) requires, while Mother and Father were busy filing criminal charges and PFAs against each other and exhibiting pathological codependency; T.W. has strong bond with foster family and severing that bond would be detrimental to her; T.W. has not developed any traditional bond with Mother and Father, as she spent her first several months in hospital and has had only supervised visits with parents for most of her life; only bond T.W. has with Mother and Father is biological; severing T.W.’s bond with Mother and Father pales in comparison to severing bond with foster parents, who wish to adopt T.W.; safety concerns also exist with Mother’s and Father’s care of T.W.; CYS established grounds for termination under subsection (b); current placement goal of adoption remains appropriate and necessary). The record supports the court’s decision; therefore, we have no reason to disturb it. Accordingly, we affirm as to Father’s issues one through six on the basis of the court’s oral opinion issued at the termination proceeding. In his final claim, Father argues trial counsel was ineffective - 13 - J-S10001-16 throughout the proceedings, which severely prejudiced Father. Specifically, Father asserts trial counsel failed to object to hearsay testimony regarding a videotape that was not introduced at the hearing. Father insists this example is only one of “many” instances where incompetent evidence made its way into the record because counsel failed to raise a proper objection at the time. Father concludes the court used this evidence to determine CYS had met its clear and convincing burden, and he is entitled to a new hearing. We disagree. “Pennsylvania statutes do not require counsel in termination proceedings, although Pennsylvania case law does…and flowing from this it is presumed that counsel would and should be effective.” In re Adoption of T.M.F., 573 A.2d 1035, 1040 (Pa.Super. 1990) (en banc), appeal denied, 527 Pa. 634, 592 A.2d 1301 (1990). This Court evaluates ineffectiveness allegations in termination proceedings as follows: In the context of a termination proceeding, the best approach…is the fundamental fairness doctrine whereby, in the exercise of its broad scope of review, an allegation of ineffectiveness of counsel on appeal would result in a review by this Court of the total record with a determination to be made whether on the whole, the parties received a fair hearing, the proof supports the decree by the standard of clear and convincing evidence, and upon review of counsel’s alleged ineffectiveness, any failure of his stewardship was the cause of a decree of termination. Mere assertion of ineffectiveness of counsel is not the basis of a remand or rehearing, and despite a finding of ineffectiveness on one or more aspects of the case, if the result would unlikely have been different despite a more perfect stewardship, the decree must stand. - 14 - J-S10001-16 Id. at 1044. Thus, the “fundamentally fair hearing” right to effective assistance of counsel in civil termination cases is more limited than the right to effective assistance of counsel in criminal cases. In re J.T., 983 A.2d 771, 775 (Pa.Super. 2009). If competent evidence of record supports the termination decree, it should stand. Id. A party alleging ineffectiveness in termination matters must “demonstrate such ineffectiveness so undermined the truth determining process that no reliable adjudication…could have been made.” Matter of J.P., 573 A.2d 1057, 1066 (Pa.Super. 1990) (en banc). Additionally, the party alleging ineffective assistance of counsel in this context “must show by clear and convincing evidence that it is more likely than not that the result would have been different, absent the ineffectiveness.” In re K.D., 871 A.2d 823, 827 (Pa.Super. 2005), appeal denied, 586 Pa. 713, 889 A.2d 1216 (2005). Instantly, Father did not adequately develop his claim regarding counsel’s ineffectiveness. Nevertheless, even if properly articulated, Father cannot demonstrate that, absent the alleged ineffectiveness, the outcome of the termination proceedings would have been different. See id. Competent evidence of record supported the termination of Father’s parental rights. See In re J.T., supra. Thus, Father’s ineffectiveness claim merits no relief. Accordingly, we affirm the court’s order terminating Father’s parental rights. Order affirmed. - 15 - J-S10001-16 Judgment Entered. Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq. Prothonotary Date: 2/26/2016 - 16 - Circulated 02/18/2016 11:32 AM )~· . COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF MONROE COUNTY ' FORTY-THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE INTEREST OF: NO. 64 DP 2012 NO. 48 OCA 2013 T. w., A Minor HEARING TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS BEFORE: Jonathan Mark, Judge DATE: June 12, 2015 9:30 a.m. PLACE: Courtroom No. 1 .i.i ••·.·,·.0.:.~_;·_.· Monroe County Courthouse -:/' .. ~ Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania APPEARANCES: ELIZABETH BENSINGER WEEKES, ESQUIRE 529 Sarah Street Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 18360 -- Solicitor DONALD M. LEETH, ESQUIRE 818 Ann St:i:;eet Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 18360 On behalf of Mother ERIC L. HAMILL, ESQUIRE 501 Broad Street, Suite #3 Milford, Pennsylvania 18337 -- On behalf of Father •·,..:: ===================================================== ~ Proceedings stenographically recorded by .,.~ . Yvestre M. Torres, OCR ~ ~ ADDENDUM ATTACHED TO THE TRANSCRIPT: 1. OPINION IN SUPPORT OF ORDER PURSUANT To Pa. R.A.P. 1925 (a) 2. ADDENDUM TO ANNOUNCEMENT HEARING 3. NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION ! i 3 1 P R O C.E ED ING s 2 THE COURT: Good morning, everybody. 3 MS. WEEKES: Good morning, Your Honor. 4 MR. HAMILL: Good morning, Your Honor. 5 THE COURT: We are here now as scheduled to 6 announce a decision in both of the cases involving 7 Time Warner, the dependent in this case, and the 8 termination of parental rights case. 9 This case has been around for a while, so 10 I'm going to take a little bit of time to make sure 11 that I try to be as clear as possible. We will get 12 to this in more detail later, but the last hearing in 13 this case was at the end of April, and the parties 14 were given, I think, three or four weeks, whatever it 15 was, to file some briefs, some memoranda, and 16 post-submmission filing. 17 Then even though this was a case involving a 18 child, this is a highly-contested, long-running 19 dependency case, relatively long-running termination 20 of parental rights case, and so the Court wanted to 21 take a little bit of time to look at some of the 22 legal issues and the facts before making a decision. 23 That coupled with the Court's schedule, 24 including federal trials and other matters and I I j 25 personal matters, made it so that the extra month Pursuant to 4S J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be fumished to • pel'ly until ell expenau of tr11nsctlption ,re paid. Any reproduction of 11n official transcript without prior court approval I• prohibited.• 4 1 from the time the briefs were in until now elapse. 2 So today I will announce both decisions. 3 Orders will be issued today or tomorrow, at the 4 latest, depending on whether the computer system is 5 cooperating with us or not. 6 At the last hearing, this case was at the 7 end of April. The evidence was concluded. I do not 8 anticipate taking any evidence today or hearing any 9 argument today. I will note that the parents are 10 here with their respective attorneys. So Father is 11 here, I guess, with one of his two attorneys. Right, 12 Mr. Hamill? 13 MR. HAMILL: Correct. 14 THE COURT: His second attorney, I guess, is 15 not here, but I'm not sure if we really need two for 16 this. I believe the guardian ad litem is also not 17 present. I know that the guardian is on vacation, 18 and because it was we tried to schedule this, I 19 didn't know if she was going to have someone else sit 20 here to listen. But I know she was interested in 21 hearing -- according to what was provided to my 22 office -- the outcome, and, of course, a transcript, 23 if necessary. But everybody else is here. The 24 agency is here, represented by several people, 25 including a couple of supervisors. Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 2/IOc "No trenscrlpt shall be furnished to • party uni/I all expenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an oH/cial tnmscr/pl wllhout prior court approval is prohibited,• 5 1 Now, after the last hearing, I believe I 2 indicated the parties were going to need to file 3 memoranda and post-submission filings. Mother, 4 Father and Monroe County Children and Youth Services 5 -- who for the rest of this announcement, unless I 6 slip, I will refer to as the agency -- filed briefs. 7 Father and the agency included in their submission 8 some findings of fact. 9 In addition, Father submitted, by praecipe, 10 an additional·document, which I assume he was wanting 11 to make of record as part of the evidentiary record, 12 and that was, I believe, a magisterial district 13 judge's order for document -- at least some kind of 14 document indication that a case that has been filed 15 against him, and had been mentioned during 16 termination hearing, had been dismissed, and that is 17 in the file. I don't know if it was distributed to 18 other parties or not, but it is in the file. 19 The Defendant in the matter in this case -- 20 the Defendant in this case, I should say, has an open 21 -- has been opened in the records of Monroe County 22 Children and Youth Services since June 30, 2012, and 23 this Court shortly thereafter. It is, as indicated, 24 a much litigated, highly-contested case and has been 25 all along. Purau•nt to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 250c "No transcript shall be furnl11hed to • party untfi •II e1tpenses of transcription.,. paid. Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval ls prohibited.• 6 1 In early 2014, an order was issued that 2 changed the goal from reunification to adoption with 3 a concurrent goal of reunification. And at that 4 point, Mother appealed. In response to the appeal, 5 several things were filed of record. One of which 6 was I issued an opinion on April 11, 2014, which I 7 will from this point on hopefully remember to refer 8 to as the appeal petition. 9 Then on August 22, 2014, the Superior Court 10 issued a memorandum opinion affirming the goal change 11 order and permanency review order. And both opinions 12 are in the record and filed in this matter, both here 13 and Superior Court, and I know all the attorneys, and 14 hopefully the parties, have copies as well. 15 I am going to right now, so that we 16 understand, incorporate both opinions into this 17 announcement by reference. At the end of this 18 announcement, I will, as indicated, issue the orders 19 to make the findings that are required. However, I 20 will be doing this orally today so that no more time 21 needs to go by. And I will, therefore, have an 22 opinion. 23 So what I have done is I have prepared an 24 addendum that will be attached to the transcript, if 25 anyone orders a transcript or if there is an appeal, Pursuat1t to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall b• fuml•h&d to a party untll ell e1tpenses of trenscrlption are peid. Any reproduction of an offlcla/ transcrtpt without prior court approve/ /a prohibited." 7 1 as I anticipate there will be regardless of the 2 outcome, either by one or both of the parents or the 3 agency. 4 The addendum that I am about to hand out to 5 you now will be attached to the transcript, and will 6 be given to the court reporter to keep with the 7 records of this case. So if counsel will want to 8 approach, I will give you the addendum. There you 9 go. We will have the extra one for the guardian. 10 We1ll make sure that we leave one for Ms. Cerate. 11 In any event, the addendum is not in the 12 form of an opinion but procedural and factual 13 history. The addendum is the law that I had applied 14 to both the termination of parental rights 15 proceeding, and the decision you'll hear in that 16 case. And it also references the standards and law 17 that I applied in the permanency review hearing and 18 issued a permanency review order. 19 Because I do anticipate that there will be 20 an appeal regardless of the outcome today filed by at 21 least some party, it also references the appellant 22 standard of review, which was listed and summarized 23 in detail in the appeal petition previously filed. 24 For convenience and ease of reference, I am \ 25 also going to include the prior opinions -- both my Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 250c "No transcript shall be tum/shed to a party untll al/ expenitas of transcription artJ paid. Any reproduction of an official tranitcrlpt without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 8 1 appeal opinion and the Superior Court's opinion -- as 2 addenda to any transcript, and we will get those to 3 the court reporter. 4 Instead of giving a draft out of the Court's 5 -- my chambers• computer system, we will include a 6 copy that is time stamped in the file in the records 7 of this case. 8 The factual and procedural history of the 9 dependency case and the early portion of the 10 termination of parental rights case were captured in 11 the prior opinion, and so I am not going to repeat 12 them in detail here. 13 In addition, the agency and Father have 14 submitted findings of fact. With respect to the 15 agency's findings of fact, I affirm but I do not 16 adopt findings 1 through 12 and believe that they are 17 supported by competent evidence in the record. 18 I said I wasn't going to recount the history 19 in detail or in full, but my remarks today do need to 20 be put in context, so a very quick summary, again, 21 incorporating everything that was composed in the 22 long opinion -- appeal opinion that was written and 23 the Superior Court's opinion. I will just note 24 quickly the following: ·- 25 r. W. was born jn 2012, and she is Pursuant to 43 J.D.R,C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be furnished to IIparty until all eltpanses of transcription are paid. Any raproductlon of an official transcript without pr/or court approval is prohibited.• 9 1 now three years old. She was premature, and had to 2 stay in the hospital for an extended period after her 3 birth as a result of a heart condition that was 4 required to be monitored. For still unexplained 5 reasons, neither parent mentioned that when T. W. came 6 into care. 7 T.w. first came to the attention of the 8 agency on June 30th of 2012, and the referral, which 9 we have discussed and has been documented many times, 10 was that from Mother. She had accused Father of 11 taking TW. out of the family van and throwing her in 12 the car seat from the van on the road whereT w. was 13 injured. 14 -,. w. was taken to Pocono Medical Center and 15 then to a regional facility for evaluation and 16 workup. As I have detailed in the appeal petition, 17 despite the parents' protestation to the contrary, 18 injuries were observed and reported by medical 19 personnel from both hospitals, although luckily not 20 as severe -- the injury was not as severe as first 21 thought by doctors at Pocono Medical Center. 22 There were both old and new injuries that 23 were ultimately identified. Significantly, the 24 injuries are still, for the most part, unexplained by 25 the parents. While there have been some suggestions, Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be furnished to a party until all expenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 10 1 some innuendo, some guesses, and some information 2 that could possibly be an explanation, some of which 3 was confirmed by one parent or another, all of those 4 details are in the prior opinion. As we sit here 5 today, there still really is no specific explanation 6 for all the injuries, old and new, that were 7 observed. 8 -r.w.: came into care -- not exactly as the 9 parties have characterized in their filing, some of 10 which were cursory, although Mother's were much more 11 detailed than others -- but because after Mother had 12 accused Father of throwing .T.w. I and injuring her, 13 Father was arrested and then jailed. 14 Mother, who was not honest about her 15 criminal history, had a warrant out for her arrest. 16 And when Mother was arrested on the outstanding 17 warrant from another state is when T. W. came into 18 care. That was July 1, 2012, just shy of three years 19 ago from today. She has been in care continuously in 20 the same pre-adopt foster home ever since. 21 To measure the time frame by traditional 22 benchmarks, : T W.. : has been in care for the following 23 length of time: First, she has been in care 17 24 months as of the date the termination of parental 25 rights petition was filed in this matter. Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Ru/a 250c "No transcript ahal/ be furnished to a party until a/1 eJtpensesof transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval I!! prohibited,• 11 1 She was in care 21 months as of the date the 2 goal in this case was changed. And she has been in 3 care for 23 months as of the time Mother filed the 4 appeal in the dependency case. As of the final 5 termination of parental rights hearing, -r w. has been 6 in care for 33 months, add another month or two for 7 briefs and the time the Court needed to put this 8 announcement together, and she is, as noted, almost 9 three years in care. 10 Again, you know, I have detailed the 11 background and the reasons why she came into care and 12 the reasons why as of the date the appeal petition 13 was filed, she remained in care, but really have to 14 recount something so that the decision today do read 15· correctly in context. 16 So I am going to reference two things that, 17 I think, are relatively undisputed, and I am just 18 going to quote or paraphrase some of the passages, if 19 you will, from the appeal petition. So, first, this 20 is a case where the parents had historically a very 21 volatile relationship, and that's kind of putting it 22 mildly, both before and afterT".W· was born, and both 23 before and after i-.w. came into care. 24 All that was detailed in the opinion. But 25 the time from the shelter care hearing through the Pursuant lo 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 25Dc "No transcript shall be furnished to a party until all expenses of transcription ere paid, Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval ls prohibited.• 12 1 time when Mother took the appeal, was really marked 2 with criminal, protection from abuse, other filings 3 back and forth between the parties, neither party 4 really being honest and upfront about the domestic 5 filing and issues between them or their relationship. 6 It was also marked with Mother admitting, or 7 at least saying to authorities, that she lied about 8 Father throwing·-.. w.J which resulted in charges 9 against Mother, or at least amended charges, for 10 which she ultimately pled guilty, and the list goes 11 on and on. 12 So, in the opinion that I wrote -- the 13 appeal opinion -- the following passages appear on 14 pages 18 and 19: The reasons why we changed the goal 15 to adoption, with a concurrent goal of reunification 16 are presaged by and captured in our recitation of the 17 facts of this case. 18 In a nutshell -- and I am going to use her 19 name because I used initials in the opinion -- 'T.W· • J 20 while still a premature and fragile infant, was 21 dropped, injured, and by both parents' account of the 22 incident, the subject of a roadside tug-of-war 23 between Mother and Father. 24 The underlying problem that caused ;-Y-W., to 25 be put in peril and injured is the well-documented, Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P.Rule IISDc "No transcript .shall be furnished to a parly unt/1 all expenses of transcription •re paid. Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval /s prohibited.• 13 1 deep-seated history of violence between Mother and 2 Father that is embedded in their relationship and 3 presents a danger to others, especially T, W· 4 Despite anger management classes, parenting 5 classes, services from the agency, counseling 6 received from a clinician, a minister and a pregnancy 7 crisis group of her own choosing, as well as 8 involvement in the criminal justice system and PFA 9 court, Mother has to date been unable to extricate 10 herself from her relationship with Father, protect 11 herself from Father, restrain her own violent and 12 abusive tendencies, stop the alternating pattern of 13 being a victim and then a perpetrator of abuse, or 14 stop her pathological lying. 15 In fact, based on the evidence, Mother and 16 Father's history, and the courtroom demeanor of both 17 parents, we firmly believe the parties are together 18 and not, as Mom testified, estranged. Simply put, 19 Mother has not demonstrated necessary protective 20 capacities, and the reasons that caused T.W. to come 21 into care have not, despite Mother's protestations to 22 the contrary, been alleviated. 23 Continued on page 20: Under the settled law 24 summarized in the appeal opinion, the applicable 25 standard is the best interests of the child. Under Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be furnl•hed to a party until 1111/ expenses of transcription are paid. Any raproductlon of an official transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 14 1 equally well-established law, ;T.W.~ safety, 2 permanency and well-being are paramount, and these 3 considerations trump either parents' needs, desires 4 and beliefs. 5 Based on our longitudinal view of the 6 evidence, our in-court observations of Mother on and 7 off the witness stand, Mother's overall parenting 8 history, and the facts presented by the agency, the 9 well-reasoned and articulated positions of the agency 10 and T. W.'o ': guardian ad litem, and the applicable law, 11 it was and is still obvious to us that Mother has 12 simply not progressed to the point where: T. W. could 13 safety be returned to her. 14 That determination, coupled with T. W.' .s 15 needs and welfare, the amount of time T W. has been 16 in care, and the firmly entrenched and oft-quoted 17 doctrine that "a child's life simply cannot be put on 18 hold in the hope that the parent will summon the 19 ability to handle the responsibilities of parenting," 20 led us inexorably to the conclusion that the goal 21 change we ordered was in :T"W.5 best interest. 22 Finally, on pages 25 and 26 of the case 23 I'm sorry -- of the appeal opinion, T:-W,'-' health, 24 safety and well-being are the paramount concerns, and I ; ' 25 her best interest is the guide star. Pursuant to 4S J.D.R.C.P. Rule Z50c "No transcript shall be furnished to• patty unlll e/1 expenses of transcripllon are paid. Any reproduction of an off/clal transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 15 1 T. w. ~. safety must be ensured regardless of 2 whether she was injured in the roadside incident, 3 which scenario could be supported by at least 4 Father's evidence; in the incident where Mother 5 dropped her, which scenario could be supported by the 6 statements of either or both parents; or in some 7 prior incident which has yet to be explained by the 8 parents, but that would be equally problematic. 9 In fact, ; T. W. 's ~ safety must be assured even 10 if Mother's no-injury assertion is accepted. Neither 11 parent has demonstrated the current ability to 12 provide the requisite assurance. 13 In this regard, it cannot be emphasized 14 enough that, under both parents' versions of the June 15 30, 2012 incident, T.W. came into care because the 16 volatile nature of Mother and Father's relationship 17 shockingly caused them to become embroiled in an 18 argument that led them to literally play a game of 19 tug-of-war with TW. in a car seat at the side of a 20 public road. 21 While T v'I/. is now physically safe, the 22 tug-of-war between the parents continues, at times 23 literally and at times figuratively, and the 24 underlying issues that cause their battles have not 25 been resolved. Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 2SOc "No transcript shall be furnished to a p11t1y until all expanses of transcription are psld. Any reproduction of an o"lcial transcript without prior court spproval is prohibited.• 16 1 That, of course, was all as of the time that 2 the appeal opinion was written and as of the last 3 permanency review and goal change hearing that had 4 been conducted in the case. Now, I read passages 5 that have negative implications to be true to the 6 facts and also to balance, as indicated, the opinion 7 and as the parents have argued strenuously. 8 Both parents did make progress toward their 9 goals. In fact, in the proposed findings that 10 Children and Youth submitted, progress was noted, and 11 Mother's progress, I think, was noted in most, if not 12 all, of the review hearing orders up to the point 13 when the appeal was filed and afterwards as well. 14 That continued in terms of checking off 15 goals throughout the time while the case was on 16 appeal and afterwards throughout the termination of 17 parental rights hearing. Procedurally, there was an 18 overlap between the goal change request and 19 proceeding and the termination of parental rights 20 proceeding. 21 And I think it's captured in the opinion, 22 but just quickly because there is a gap in this case 23 that needs to be explained, and probably all of us 24 need to do some self-examination on it, and that is 25 this: As the dependency case progressed into the Pursu•nt to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 2ISOc "No tr•n5crfpt •h•II be furnished to • petty unl/1 all eltpenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an offlclal transcript without prior court approval ls prohibited.• 17 1 fall of 2013, the matter was scheduled to be reviewed 2 by our dependency master pursuant to our three-month 3 review protocol in September of 2013. 4 The agency appeared and objected to the 5 jurisdiction of the master, and asked the Court to 6 hear the case, so a hearing was scheduled. The 7 guardian ad litem then asked for some additional time 8 to subpoena records from other states because of the 9 issues that Mother had there that are referenced and 10 documented in the exhibits and in the appeal opinion, 11 and the notes of testimony that are cited in that 12 opinion. 13 So a new hearing date was scheduled, and 14 that was for December of 2013. I didn't write down 15 the specific day. While all that was going on, and 16 the guardian was gathering records, the agency filed 17 a termination of parental rights petition. That 18 petition was filed and because the date can be 19 significant, depending on whose argument we look at, 20 the termination petition was filed on December 3, 21 2013. 22 So at that point, we had not yet had the 23 goal change hearing. And there were two subsequent 24 review hearings where the change of goal was 25 addressed. And so it sort of begs the question why Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript aha/I be furnished to a party until all eKpenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an otrlc/al transcript without pr/or court approval is prohibited.• 18 1 we didn1t include the termination of parental rights 2 petition in those hearings, and the simple question 3 -- the simple answer, which is contained in the 4 footnote of page 9 of the appeal petition, was that 5 at the time the original master's hearing was 6 scheduled, we had not yet been to the magic 15-month 7 mark in the case, the agency did not ask for the 8 termination of parental rights, and the parents had 9 been making some progress, as had been indicated in 10 the orders; although, there were a whole host of 11 problems, as even my handful of passages that I read, 12 indicated. 13 Then quite frankly, the parties asked since 14 the goal change had already been set up and started, 15 and the agency wanted to get itself together with 16 respect to termination, and Mother and Father wanting 17 to put evidence and witnesses together, they ask that 18 the hearing not be heard together. And even though 19 it's best practice to file the two together, there 20 were no concurrent filing, if you will, so they 21 started a goal change hearing. 22 The order that I issued changed the goal. I 23 did set a hearing on termination petition, but then 24 by request from all parties, I agreed to postpone 25 that hearing until after the appeal was filed. Pursuant lo 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No lranscripl shall be fumishSd lo a party until all elfpenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an offlcial transcripl without prior court approval ls prohlbiled. • 19 1 Looking back that was probably something that should 2 not have been done. It, you know, -- the reason that 3 there is a best practice now with filing at a proper 4 point in a dependency case towards a goal change and 5 a termination petition simultaneously is so you don•t 6 have the time that you have here. You know, when you 7 do one and you wait for an appeal and then come back 8 and have the result. 9 In any event, that happened at the time -- 10 in real time going forward. There were or appeared 11 to be rational reasons and bases for doing so. But 12 with the look back, it probably shouldn't have been 13 done that way. 14 In any event, the appeal was pursued. The 15 appeal opinion that I talked about was written. The 16 parties participated in the appeal, so did the 17 guardian ad litem, and ultimately, as indicated, the 18 Superior Court -- the Superior Court affirmed the 19 goal change. 20 So, after the goal change order -- I1m sorry 21 -- after the Superior Court's order came down, and 22 the appeal period -- the period for filing the 23 petition for the allowance of an appeal from the 24 Supreme Court expired, a termination petition -- the 25 termination hearing scheduled on the termination Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be furnlsl,ed to a party unt/1 all expenses of transcription are paid. Any Nproductlon of an official transcript without prior court approval is prohibited.• 20 1 petition at that point had been filed almost a year 2 before the first hearing was scheduled; although, 3 again, it's not what the Court wanted. 4 The hearing was scheduled in accordance 5 with, you know, attorney schedules and that included 6 a three-and-a-half month delay to accommodate the 7 schedules of the attorneys for Father between the 8 December of 2014 period and the March 2015 hearing. 9 So there were review hearings while the 10 appeal was going on, and then the termination of 11 parental rights and corollary dependency review and 12 permanency placement review hearing were held in 13 December of last year and March of this year. 14 Not much had changed, although, the parties 15 still had visits and continually visited; although, 16 visitation had been very, very problematic, both with 17 respect to the agency's side and with respect to the 18 parents, especially with respect to Father. 19 It came to light that during the -- 20 somewhere during the appeal period and between the 21 last review hearing before the Court and then the 22 commencement of the termination and review hearing in 23 December of 2014, that despite the concurrent goal of 24 reunification, the agency admittedly stopped doing 25 what was in the court order and didn't move at all Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 250c "No transcript shall be furnished to a party until all expenses of transcription er& paid. Any reproduction of an offlcllill transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 21 1 towards reunification. 2 That shocking revelation came from the stand 3 from one of the caseworkers, and it was borne out by 4 the documents that were submitted, and also by the 5 cross-examination that was conducted by counsel for 6 both parents. So the case proceeded to termination 7 hearing with all parties calling multiple witnesses 8 and making arguments and filing briefs on several 9 legal issues and then the post-hearing submission 10 that I talked about. 11 I do need to note that the parties continued 12 to make some progress, or at least keep checking off 13 some of the black and white stated goals in the plan. 14 However, there were several things that were 15 problematic: 16 One, again, visitation, which became a 17 matter of principles between the agency and Father, 18 especially very unfortunately in this case, was just 19 pot marked with issues even to the point where we had 20 to have a conference and figure out the e-mail 21 protocol and confirm appointments, and even then 22 there were some problems, and, you know, the parents, 23 especially Father, wants to assess and have the Court 24 assess and pass blame. That's not what the Court 25 does in these cases. Punuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 260c "No transcript shall be furnished to• party uni/I al/ expenses of transcription are paid. Any reproduction of an official transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 22 1 On the other hand, I can say that, you know, 2 Father throughout this whole procedure would not 3 fully adhere to the advisement of the Court, and I am 4 assuming from his attorney, that at some point you 5 have to parent, I guess put principles aside, and you 6 have to work towards reunification rather than trying 7 to catch every miscue that the agency does. 8 On the other hand, it's pretty clear that 9 the agency didn't comply with the secondary portion 10 of the concurrent goal which was reunification. 11 However, it should be noted that the agency did, of 12 course, pursue the primary first of the concurrent 13 goals which was adoption. 14 In any event, as I indicated before, even up 15 to the termination of parental rights hearing, there 16 still had been no full explanation for the injury. 17 Mother had done well visiting, except right before 18 the hearing, where she did not appear for the last 19 two or three visits. I am not sure about since then. 20 Father was working and doing some other 21 things. However, I know he continued his principle 22 fight with the agency, at times casting dispersions 23 on the agency and even the Court. But that is how 24 Father had elected to play this case, despite the 25 best attempts of the Court and initially the best Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P. Rule 25Dc "No lranscrlpt shall be furnished to a par!y until all expensas of transcription are paid. Any raproductlon of an official transcript without prior court approval Is prohibited.• 23 1 attempts of the agency to try to get him to focus on 2 parenting and.T.W,~ best interest. 3 So at the conclusion of the hearing, when I 4 looked at the briefs, the parties had a pretty 5 polarized position. The guardian ad litem 6 articulated a very cogent reason why rights should be 7 terminated, why the dependency should be continued 8 and the goal should be maintained as adoption. 9 Father and Mother articulated their beliefs 10 that because the agency had not worked towards the 11 concurrent goal, that either as a matter of law or 12 fact or discretion, that termination should not be 13 granted, and the impasse continued. 14 So I will say this: This is not a case 15 where it is the shining moment for any of us. This 16 is not a case that I'm going to hold up in my 17 repertoire as one where I guided the parties in the 18 best interest of the child in the best way possible. 19 I am not going to sit here and cast dispersions on 20 anyone else. Everybody else hopefully has engaged in 21 that same self-reflection. 22 From continuing these cases, you know -- 23 through continuance requests and appeals, we tried to 24 give the parents some post-petition chance to finally 25 get it and make some progress, to not fully following Pursuant to 43 J.D.R.C.P.Rule 250c "No transcript shell be furnished to a party until all eJ ~ en U1 ~ 28 Circulated 02/18/2016 11:32 AM COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF MONROE COUNTY FORTY-THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA JUVENILE COURT DIVISION IN THE INTEREST OF: NO. 64 DP 2012 48 OCA2013 T. W. :, a minor ADDENDUM TO ANNOUNCEMENT HEARING The law I applied to the facts of this case these cases in reaching the decisions I am announcingtoday is well settled. In comprehensivesummary: 1. Termination of Parental Rights In termination cases, the burden is upon the petitioner, in this case Monroe County Children and Youth Services ("CYS"), to prove by clear and convincingevidence that its asserted grounds for seeking the termination of parental rights are valid. In re T.D., 949 A.2d 910 (Pa. Super. 2008); In re S.H., 879 A.2d 802, 806 (Pa. Super. 2005). Clear and convincing evidence has been defined as "testimonythat is so clear, direct, weighty and convincing as to enable the trier of fact to come to a clear conviction, without hesitation, of the truth of the precise facts in issue," In re K.Z.S., 946 A.2d 753, 757 (Pa. Super. 2008) (citation omitted). It is well established that a court must examine the individual circumstances of each and every .case and consider all explanations offered by the parentto determine if the evidence in light of the totality of the circumstances clearly warrants termination. In re J.L.C. & J.R.C., 837 A.2d 1247, 1251 (Pa. Super. 2003). Termination of parental rights is controlled by Section 2511 of the Adoption Act, 23 Pa. C.S.A. Section 2511. In this case, CYS seeks termination of both parents' parental rights on the following grounds: Section 2511. Grounds for Involuntary Termination (a) General Rule. - The rights of a parent in regard to a child may be terminated after a petition filed any of the following grounds: (1) The parents have, for a period of more than six (6) months prior to the filing of this pennon, failed to perform their parental duties; (2) The repeated and continued incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal of the parents has caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence necessary for his physical and mental well-being and the conditions and causes of the inability, abuse, neglect or refusal have not been remedied by the parents; *** (5) The child has been removed from the care of the parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an agency for a period of at least six months, the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child continue to exist, the parent cannot or will not remedy those conditions within a reasonable period of time, the services or assistance reasonably available to the parent are not likely to remedy the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child within a reasonable period of time and termination of the parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child.] *** (8) The child has been removed from the care of the parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an aqency. 12 months or more have elapsed from the date of removal or placement, the conditions which led to the removal or placement of the child continue to exist and termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child. · *** 2 (b) Other considerations - The court in terminating the rights of a parent shall give primary consideration of the developmental, physical and emotional needs and welfare of the child. The rights of a parent shall not be terminated solely on the basis of environmental factors such as inadequate housing, furnishings, income, clothing and medical care if found to be beyond the control of the parent With respect to any petition filed pursuant to subsection (a)(1), (6), or (8), the court shall not consider any efforts by the parent to remedy the conditions described therein which are first initiated subsequent to the giving of notice of the filing of the petition. 23 Pa. C.S.A. Section 2511 (a)(1), (2), (5), (8), and (b). Satisfaction of any subsection of Section 2511 (a), along with consideration of Section 2511 (b), is sufficient for involuntary termination of parental rights. In re K.Z.S., supra; In re R.J.S., 901 A.2d 502 (Pa. Super. 2006). Accordingly, an appellate court "need only agree with the orphan's court as to any one subsection of Section 2511(a), as well a~ Section 2511(b), in order to affirm." In re B.L.W., 843 A.2d 380·, 384 (Pa. Super. 2004) (en bane), app. den., 863 A.2d 1141 (Pa. 2004). See also In re Adoption of C.J.P., _A.3d _, 2015 PA Super 80, 2015 WL 1668310 (Pa. Super, filed April 15, 2015); In re K.H.B., 107 A.3d 175 (Pa. Super. 2014). Section 2511 requires a bifurcated analysis. Initially, the focus is on the conduct of the parent. The party seeking termination must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the parent's conduct satisfies the statutory grounds for termination delineated in Section2511(a). Only if the court determines that the parent's conduct warrants termination of his or her parental rights does the- court engage in the second part of the analysis pursuant to Section 2511(b): determination of the needs and welfare of the child under the standard of best interests of the child. One major aspect of the needs and welfare analysis concerns the nature and status of the emotional bond between parent and child, with close attention paid to the effect on the child of permanentlysevering any such bond. 3 In re L.M., 923 A.2d 505, 511 (Pa. Super. 2007) (citations omitted). See also In re Adoption of C.J.P., supra; In re T.D., supra; In re Adoption of R.J.S., supra. In analyzing the conduct of a parent, the applicable statutory language must be considered. As the third sentence of Section 2511{b) directs, when subsections (a)(1), (6), or {8) of Section 2511 {a) are cited as the grounds for termination, we may not consider actions of a parent to remedy the conditions that necessitated the dependent child's. placement which are initiated after the parent receives notice of the filing of the termination petition. In re Adoption of C.J.P., supra; In re K.Z.S., supra; In re D.W, 856 A.2d 1231 (Pa. Super. 2004). Under Section 2511 {a)(1 Y, parental rights may be terminated if, for a period of at least six months, a parent either demonstrates a settled purpose of relinquishing parental claims to a child or fails to perform parental duties. In re Adoption of R.J.S., supra; In re Adoption of J.M.M., 782 A.2d 1024 (Pa. Super. 2001). As the Superior Court has explained: A court may terminate parental rights under Section 2511 (a){1) where the parent demonstrates a settled purpose to relinquish parental claim to a child or fails to perform parental duties for at least the six months prior to the filing of the termination petition. Although it is the six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition that is most critical to the analysis, the court must consider the whole history of a given case and not mechanically apply the six- month statutory provision. · In re K.Z.S., supra at 758 {Pa. Super. 2008) (case citations and quotation marks omitted). See also In re Z.P., 994 A.2d 1108 (Pa. Super. 2010). The grounds for termination of parental rights under Section 2511(a)(2), due to 4 parental incapacity that cannot be remedied, are not limited to affirmative misconduct. Rather, those grounds may include acts of refusal as well as incapacity to perform parental duties. Parental rights may be terminated pursuant to Section 2511(a)(2) if three conditions are met: (1) repeated and continued incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal must be shown; (2) such incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal must be shown to have caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence; and (3) it must be shown that the causes of the incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal cannot or will not be remedied. Unlike subsection (a)(1), subsection (a)(2) does not emphasize a parent's refusal or failure to perform parental duties, but instead emphasizes the child's present and future. need for essential parental care, control or subsistence necessary for his physical or mental wellbeing. 23 Pa.C.S.A § 2511(a)(2). Therefore, the language in subsection (a)(2) should not be read to compel courts to ignore a child's need for a stable home and strong, continuous parental ties, which the policy of restraint in state interventionis intended to protect. This is particularlyso where disruption of the family has already occurred and there is no reasonable prospect for reuniting it. ... Further, grounds for termination under subsection (a)(2) are not limited to affirmative misconduct; those grounds may include acts of incapacityto perform parental duties. In re E.A.P., 944 A.2d 79, 82 (Pa. Super. 2008) (case citations and internal quotation marks omitted) (emphasis in original). See In re Adoption of R.J.S., supra. Thus, While sincere efforts to perform parental duties can preserve parental rights under subsection (a)(1), those same efforts may be insufficient to remedy parental incapacity under subsection (a)(2). Parents are required to make diligent efforts toward the reasonably prompt assumption of full parental responsibilities.A parent's vow to cooperate,after a long period of uncooperativenessregarding the necessity or availability of services, may properly be rejectedas untimely or disingenuous. 5 In re Z.P., 994 A.2d at 1117~18 (case citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Moreover, a court may terminate parental rights under subsection (a)(2), even where the parent has never had physical custody of the child. In re Adoption of Michael J.C., 486 A.2d 371, 375 (Pa. 1984); In re Z.P, supra. For termination under Section 2511 (a)(5), "the following factors must be demonstrated: (1) the child has been removed from parental care for at least six months; (2) the conditions which led to the child's removal or placement continue to exist; (3) the parents cannot or will not remedy the conditions which led to removal or placement within a reasonable period of time; (4) the services reasonably available to the parents are unlikely to remedy the conditions which led to removal or placement within a reasonable period of time; and (5) termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child." In re K.H.B., 107 A.3d 175 (Pa. Super. 2014) (quoting In re Adoption of M.E.P., 825 A.2d 1266, 1273-74 (Pa.Super.2003)). See also In re Adoption of K.J., 936 A.2d 1128, 1133 (Pa. Super. 2007), app. den., 951 A.2d 1165 (Pa. 2008). To terminate parental rights under Section 2511 (a)(B), the party seeking termination of parental rights need only show "(1) that the child has been removed from the care of the parent for at least twelve months; (2) that the conditions which led to the removal or the placement of the child still exist; and (3) that termination of parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the child." In re Adoption of R.J.S., supra at 511. See In re Adoption of M.E.P., 825 A.2d 1266 (Pa. Super. 2003). "Unlike Section 2511 (a)(S), Section 2511(a)(8) does not require an evaluation of the remedial efforts of either the parent... Instead, Section 2511 (a)(8) imposes a lengthier removal 6 period of one year." In re B.C., 36 A.3d 601, 611 (Pa. Super. 2012) (citing C.LG., 956 A.2d at 1007). The one year time period is significant. As the Superior Court has explained: Section 2511 (a)(B) sets a twelve-month time frame for a parent to remedy the conditions that led to the children's removal by the court. Once the twelve-month period has been established, the court must next determine whether the conditions· that led to the child's removal continue to exist, despite the reasonable good faith efforts of DHS supplied over a realistic period. The relevant inquiry in this regard is whether the conditions that led to removal have been remedied and thus whether reunification of parent and child is imminent at the 'time of the hearing. This Court has acknowledged: [T]he application of Section (a)(8) may seem harsh when the parent has begun to make progress toward resolving the problems that had led to removal of her children. By allowing for termination when the conditions that led to removal continue to exist after a year, the statute implicitly recognizes that a child's life cannot be held in abeyance while the parent is unable to perform the actions necessary to assume parenting responsibilities. This Court cannot and will not subordinate indefinitely a child's need for permanence and stability to a parent's claims of progress and hope for the future. fn re I.E.P., 87 A.2d 340, 345-46 (Pa. Super. 2014) (case citations and internal quotation marks omitted). With respect to the "needs and welfare" analysis pertinent to Sections (a)(B) and (b), the Superior Court has observed: [l]nitially, the focus in terminating parental rights is on the parent, under Section 2511(a), whereas the focus in Section 2511(b) is on the child. However, Section 2511(a){8) explicitly requires an evaluation ·of the 'needs and welfare of the child' prior to proceeding to Section 2511 (b), which focuses on the 'developmental, physical and emotional 7 needs and welfare of the child.' Thus, the analysis under Section 2511 (a)(8) accounts for the needs of the child in addition to the behavior of the parent. Moreover, only if a court determines that the parent's conduct warrants termination of his or her parental rights, pursuant to Section 2511 (a), does a court engage in the second part of the analysis pursuant to Section 2511 (b): determination of the needs and welfare of the child under the standard of best interests of the child. Accordingly, while both Section 2511(a)(8) and Section 2511(b) direct us to evaluate the 'needs and welfare of the child,' we are required to resolve the analysis relative to Section 2511 (a)(8), prior to addressing the 'needs and welfare' of [the child], as proscribed by Section 2511 (b); as such, they are distinct in that we must address Section 2511 (a) before reaching Section 2511(b). In re Adoption of C.L.G., 956 A.2d 999, 1008-1009 (Pa. Super. 2008) (en bane) (citations omitted). See also In re I.E.P., supra; In re Adoption of K.J., 936 A.2d 1128, 1133 (Pa. Super. 2007), app. denied, 951 A.2d 1165 (Pa. 2008). While the Superior Court focused its analysis in these cases on Section 2511(a)(8), we believe that the rationale applies equally to Section 2511(a)(5). Like Section (a)(8), Section (a)(5) requires a finding that termination would best serve the needs and welfare of the child. Accordingly, we must reach that determination before turning to Section 2511 (b). Simply put, Section 2511, including the subsectionscited and explained above, outlines certain irreducible requirements that parents must provide for their children. Parents who cannot or will not meet the requirementswithin a reasonabletime following intervention by the state may properly be considered unfit and have their parental rights terminated. In re K.Z.S., supra; In re B.L.L., 787 A.2d 1007 (Pa. Super. 2001). There is no simple or easy definition of parental duties. However, the appellate cases make it very clear that parenting is· an active rather than a passive obligationthat, 8 even in the face of difficulty, adversity, and incarceration, requires a parent to take and maintain a place of importance in the child's life. The following passage is instructive: Parental duty is best understood in relation to the needs of a child. A child needs love, protection, guidance, and support. These needs, physical and emotional, cannot be met by a merely passive interest in the development of the child. Thus, this court has held that the parental obligation is a positive duty which requires affirmative performance. *** A parent must utilize all available resources to preserve the parental relationship, and must exercise reasonable firmness in resisting obstacles placed in the path of maintaining the parent-child relationship. Parental rights are not preserved by waiting for a more suitable or convenient time to perform one's parental responsibilities while others provide the child with his or her physical and emotional needs. In re K.Z.S., supra at 759. See also In re Burns, 379 A.2d 535 (Pa. 1997); Adoption of Baby Boy A. v. Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Harrisburg, 517 A.2d 1244 (Pa. 1986); In re Shives, 525 A.2d 801 (Pa. Super. 1987). In relation to the parental requirements _outlined in Section 2511, when a parent is separated from his or her child, it is incumbent upon the parent "to maintain · communication and association with the child. This requires an. affirmative demonstration of parental devotion, imposing upon the parent the duty to exert himself, to take and maintain a place of importance in the child's life.'' In re G.P.-R., 851 A.2d 967, 977 (Pa. Super. 2004). When a parent has abandoned or effectively abandoned a child, [t]o be legally significant, the post abandonment contact must be steady and consistent over a period of time, contribute to the psychological health of the child, and must demonstrate a serious intent on the part of the parent to recultivate a parent- child relationship and must also 9 demonstrate a willingness and capacity to understand the parental role. Theparent wishing to reestablish his parental responsibilities bears the burden of proof on this question. In re T.D., 949 A.2d at 919 (case. citations and brackets omitted) (emphasis in original). Finally, parents are required to make diligent efforts towards assumption or resumption of full parental responsibilities. Accordingly, a parent's vow to cooperate, after a long period of being uncooperative regarding the necessity or availability of services, may properly be rejected as untimely or disingenuous. In re Adoption of K.J., supra; In re A.LO., 797 A.2d 326 (Pa. Super. 2002). Once statutory grounds for termination have been established, the court must, in · accordance with Section 2511 (b), consider whether the child's needs and welfare will be met by termination. A proper Section 2511 (b) analysis focuses on whether termination of parental rights would best serve the developmental, physical, and emotional needs and welfare of the child. Intangibles such as love, comfort, security, and stability are involved in the inquiry. One major aspect of the needs and welfare analysis concerns the nature and status of the emotional bond, if any, between parent and child. If a bond is determined to exist, the effect on the child of permanently severing the bond must be· analyzed and considered. See In re K.M., 53 A.3d 781 (Pa. Super. 2012); In re T.D., supra; In re L.M., supra; In re Adoption of R.J.S., supra. As to the bond analysis, the Superior Court has stated: in conducting a bonding analysis, the court is not required to use expert testimony, but may rely on the testimony of social workers and caseworkers .. In re Z.P., 994 A.2d 11oa·, 1121 (Pa. Super. 2010). This Court has observed that no bond worth preserving is formed between a child and a natural parent where the child has been in foster care for most of the 10 · child's life, and the resulting bond with the natural parent is attenuated. In re K.Z.S., 946 A.2d 753, 764 (Pa.Super.2008). In re K.H.B., 107 A.3d 175, 180 (Pa. Super. 2014). In addition to a bond examination, a court may equally emphasize the safety needs of the child under subsection (b), particularly in cases involving physical or sexual abuse, severe child neglect or abandonment, or children with special needs. The trial court should also examine the intangibles such as the love, comfort, security, and stability the child might have with the foster parent. Another consideration is the importance of continuity of relationships to the child and whether the parent-child bond, if it exists, can be severed without detrimental effects on the child. All of these factors can contribute to the inquiry aboutthe needs and welfare of the child. In re K.Z.S., 946 A.2d at 763 (emphasis in original). When,·as here, the petitioner is an agency, "it shall not be required to aver that an adoption is presently contemplated nor that a person with a present intention to . adopt exists." 23 Pa.C.S. § 2512(b). However, the existence or absence of a pre- adoptive home is an important factor. So is the relationshipbetween the child and the foster or pre-adoptive parents. As our Supreme Court cogentlystated, "[c]ommonsense 'dictates that courts considering termination must also considerwhether the children are in a pre-adoptive home and whether they have a bond with their foster parents. In re: T.S.M., 71 A.3d 251, 268 (Pa. 2013). See In re K.M., supra. In reviewing evidence in support of termination under section 2511(b), our Supreme Court recently stated: [l]f the grounds for termination under subsection(a) are met, · a court 'shall give primary consideration to the developmental, physical and emotional needs and welfare of. the child.' 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511(b). The emotional needs and welfare of the child have been properly interpretedto include II '(i]ntangibles such as Jove, comfort, security, and stability. In · In re E.M., [620 A.2d 481, 485 (Pa. 1993) ], this Court held that the determination of the child's 'needs and· welfare' requires consideration of the emotional bonds between the parent and child. The 'utmost attention"' should be paid to discerning the effect on the child of permanently severing the. parental bond. In re T.S.M. 71 A.3d at 267. The Court additionally observed: contradictory considerations exist as to whether termination will benefit the needs and welfare of a child who has a strong but unhealthy bond to his biological parent, especially considering the existence or lack thereof of bonds to a pre- adoptive family. As with dependency determinations, we emphasize that the law regarding termination of parental rights should not be applied mechanically but instead always with an eye to the best interests and the needs and welfare of the particular children involved .... Obviously, attention must be paid to the pain that inevitably results from breaking a child's bond to a biological parent, even if that bond is unhealthy, and we must weigh that injury against the damage that bond may cause if left intact. Similarly, while termination of parental rights generally should not be granted unless adoptive parents are waiting to take a child into a safe and loving home, termination may be necessary for the child's needs and welfare in cases where the ohild's parental bond is impeding the search and placement with a permanent adoptive home. In weighing the difficult factors discussed above, courts must keep the ticking dock of childhood ever in mind. Children are young for a scant number of years, and we have an obligation to see to their healthy. development quickly. When courts fail, as we have in this case, the result, all too often, . is catastrophically · malad justed cbildren .. In recognition of this reality, over the past fift\9en years.. a eubstantlal shift has occurred in our society's approach. to dependent children, requiring vigilance to the need . to expedite children's placement in permanent, safe, .sta~Je, and loving homes .. [ASFA was enacted to combat· the problem of foster care drift, where children, .like the chlldren · in this case, are shuttled from one foster home to another, waiting for -their parents to ·demonstrate ther ability to care for thechildren, ·.· .·, 12 In re T.S.M., 71 A.3d at 269. In this case, both parents were incarcerated early on in the dependency case, and Mother remained on probation supervision up through most if not all of both cases. Standing alone, incarceration neither constitutes sufficient grounds for termination of parentalrights nor removes the obligation to perform required''bond effects" and "needs and welfare" analyses. However, it is a factor that must be consideredand, in a proper case, such as when a parent is serving a prohibitively long sentence, may be determinative.In re Adoption of S.P., 47 A.3d 817 (Pa. 2012); In re Z.P., supra. "Each case of an incarcerated parent facing termination must be analyzed on its own facts, keeping in mind... that the child's need for consistent parentalcare and stability cannot be put aside or put on hold simply because the parent is doing what [he orJ she is supposedto be doing in prison." In re E.A.P., 944 A.2d at 84. The analysis depends in part on the asserted grounds for termination. Jn subsection (a)(1) abandonment cases, our Supreme Court has stated: [A] parent's absence and/or. failure to support due to incarceration is not conclusive on the issue of abandonment. Nevertheless, we are not willing to completely toll a parent's responsibilities during his or her incarceration. Rather, we must inquire whether the parent has utilized those resources at his or her command while in prison in continuinga close relationship with the child. Where the parent does not exercise reasonable firmness in declining to yield to obstacles, his other rights·may be forfeited. In re Adoption of S.P., 47A.3d at 828 (quoting In re Adoption of McCray, 331 A.2d 652, 655 (Pa.. 1975) (footnotes .· . and ·. internal . . quotation . . marks . omitted). . Thus, in an abandonment case, a parent is required to both utilize .available resources and take affirmative steps to support a parent-child relationship. If the parent fails to do so, his 13 parental rights may be terminated. See In re Adoption of WJ.R., 952 A.2d 680 (Pa. Super. 2008); In re E.A.P., supra; In re K.J., supra. However, utilization of available resources does not guarantee preservation of parental rights. The statutory criteria, the facts and circumstances of each case, and the best interests, needs, and welfare of the child must all still be considered. In cases involving parental incapacity, our Supreme Court recently held that: incarceration is a factor, and indeed can be a determinative factor, in a court's conclusion that grounds for termination exist under § 2511 (a)(2) where the repeated and continued incapacity of a parent due to incarceration has caused the child to be without essential parental care, control or subsistence and that the causes of the incapacity cannot or will not be remedied. In re Adoption of S.P, 47 A.3d. at 828. In more expanded terms, the Supreme Court stated: In line with the expressed opinion of a majority of justices in [In re R.I.S., 614 Pa. 275, 36 A.3d 567 (2011) ], our prior holdings regarding incapacity, and numerous Superior Court decisions, we now definitively hold that incarceration, while not a litmus test for termination, can be determinative of the question of whether a parent is incapable of providing "essential parental care, control or subsistence" and the length of the remaining confinement can be considered as highly relevant to whether "the conditions and causes of the incapacity, abuse, neglect or refusal cannot or will not be remedied by the parent," sufficient to provide grounds for termination pursuant to 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511(a)(2). Id. at 830. In sum, a parent's incarceration "is relevant to the subsection (a)(2) analysis and, depending on the circumstances of the case, it may be dispositive of a parent's ability to provide the "essential parental care, control or subsistence+that the section contemplates." In re A.O., 9,:'.tA.3d at 897. 14 .. , ' Finally, before . filing a petition for termination of parental- rightsr- : the Commonwealth is ge.ner~!ly required to· make reasonable efforts -to promote. reunification of parent ~nd· ~hild. In re Adoption of R.J.S.. See elso In re Adoption-of M.E.P., 825 A.2d 1266 (Pa. Super. 2003). However, the commonwealth does not have an obligation to make reunification efforts indefinitely. The Commonwealth has an interest not only in family reunification but also in each child's right to a stable, safe, and healthy environment, and the two interests must both be considered." .A parent's basic constitutional right to the custody and. rearing of his orher child is converted, upon the parent's: failureto fulfill his or her parental duties, to the child's right to have proper parenting and fulfillment of his or her potential in a permanent, healthy, safe environment. When reasonable efforts to reunite a foster child with his or her biological parents have failed, then the child welfare agency must work toward terminating parental rights and ·f: placing the child with adoptive parents. The process of ' .;- reLin_ification ;r adoption should be. completed within --~ eighteen (1~) months. While this time frame ma,' in some . 9ircu,nst~nces _ .seem short, it is based on· the policy that. a .: .. · child's life simply cannot be put on hold ill the hope that the parent will: summon the ability to handle the responsibilities of parenti_ng. In re Adopt~on of R.J.S., supra at 507 (internal case citations, quotation marks, and footnote omitted). . .. However, the ._fai.lure of. an agency to. make .: reasonable efforts to promote . . ' . ·. ·'. . reunification of parent and child will not def~at a·. properly supported petition for termination of parental. rights .. Neither .the relevant provisions oi s~cttor:i: 2s1 ·1 nor the pertinent provisjons of the Juvenile .Act require a court to co_ns_id~r; th!:1 reasonable efforts provided to a pare~t-~y_tt,~::P_~titiQ~.!!19 ~9_en"cy_prior fo_termiQ_attq"n of:p~·rental,rights. In. re D.C.D., 105 A.3d 662 .(Pa._2_014);.Jn.re . ~dopti