In re Henrry P. B.-P.

171 Conn.App. 393

156 A.3d 673

IN RE HENRRY P. B.–P.^*

AC 39276, (AC 39787)

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 20, 2017

Officially released February 24, 2017^**

Enelsa Diaz, with whom were Giovanna Shay and, on the brief, Kelly Bonafé, for the appellants (petitioner et al.).

Edwin D. Colon filed a brief for the Center for Children's Advocacy, Inc., as amicus curiae.

Lavine, Mullins and Bear, Js.

BEAR, J.

These appeals highlight the limitations that courts encounter when relevant statutes provide rights, opportunities, or protections for minor children that end when they reach the age of majority, thus losing their status as juveniles. In this case, what Henrry P. B.–P. (Henrry) faces, because of Connecticut's current statutory structure, is his inability to have the Probate Court consider and make the findings that are necessary for him to petition the federal government to remain in this country. The law that we are constrained to apply, as an intermediate appellate court, in our plenary review of the relevant legal issues raised in these consolidated appeals is set forth in two recent Supreme Court opinions, In re Jose B. , 303 Conn. 569, 34 A.3d 975 (2012), and In re Jessica M. , 303 Conn. 584, 35 A.3d 1072 (2012). See also In re Pedro J.C. , 154 Conn.App. 517, 543 n.22, 105 A.3d 943 (2014). We conclude, on the basis of that law, that after Henrry reached the age of majority, the Probate Court lacked statutory authority to make the findings required by the petitions filed by his mother, the petitioner, Reyna P. A., to appoint a coguardian for Henrry, and to consider and make the special immigration juvenile status (juvenile status) findings permitted by General Statutes § 45a–608n (b) for minor children. Accordingly, we affirm the judgments of the Superior Court dismissing the appeals from the decisions of the Probate Court.

The following factual and procedural history is relevant to these appeals. Approximately five weeks before Henrry reached age eighteen, the petitioner, on March 1, 2016, filed a petition in the Probate Court seeking the removal of his deceased father as his guardian and the appointment of a nonrelative, her boyfriend, Santos O. R., as coguardian of Henrry with her. The petitioner represented in that petition that Henrry had been abandoned by his father in the sense that he had failed to maintain a reasonable degree of interest, concern or responsibility for Henrry's welfare; that Henrry had been denied the care, guidance or control necessary for his physical, educational, moral, or emotional well-being as a result of acts of parental commission or omission as defined by law; and that Henrry was neglected or uncared for, as defined in General Statutes § 46b–120. Also on March 1, 2016, the petitioner filed a petition for special immigrant juvenile findings under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (a) (27) (J) (2012). Despite the petitioner's request, the Probate Court did not take action prior to Henrry's eighteenth birthday on either of the petitions.

The first appeal to the Superior Court filed by the petitioner and Henrry was from the denial of the petition to the Probate Court seeking emergency relief before Henrry reached the age of majority and ceased to be a juvenile. On May 19, 2016, the Superior Court for Juvenile Matters dismissed that appeal for lack of jurisdiction, and on June 2, 2016, the petitioner and Henrry filed the appeal in AC 39276 in this court.

In their first appellate brief to this court, the petitioner and Henrry set forth the following additional facts and procedural history: "This appeal stems from the Juvenile Court's dismissal of the ... appeal from Probate Court, in which the Probate Court denied ... [Henrry] then a minor child, and his mother, [the petitioner], the opportunity to be heard before Henrry turned eighteen years old, and to obtain necessary [juvenile status] findings, based on a misinterpretation of Connecticut's 2014 [juvenile status] findings statute, § 45a–608n.

"[The petitioner] and her two minor children, Henrry and [his sister], are from Honduras. After her husband and father-in-law were brutally murdered by the same group of individuals, [the petitioner] fled Honduras, seeking safety in the United States and leaving her two minor children behind with their paternal grandmother because they were too young to make the treacherous journey into the [United States]. As the children grew into adolescents, the threats against them began to escalate as well.... Eventually, fearing for their lives, the two minor siblings, unbeknownst to relatives, decided to embark on their own journey into the United States to find their mother and seek refuge....

"Upon entering the United States in 2015, Henrry and [his sister] were detained by Immigration Customs and Border Patrol and then ultimately released to [the petitioner] in Connecticut. They were seventeen and sixteen years old at that time. Since arriving in Connecticut, both minors have resided with [the petitioner] and the proposed coguardian in this case, [Santos O. R.], and have been enrolled in ... high school, where Henrry recently completed tenth grade.... Both [the petitioner] and [Santos O. R.] work full-time to support the needs of Henrry and his siblings....

"On March 1, 2016, approximately five weeks prior to Henrry's eighteenth birthday, [the petitioner], through counsel, initiated the underlying Probate Court action. On that date, she filed a petition for removal of guardian, to remove her minor children's father as guardian and affirm herself as guardian, and additionally seeking the appointment of [Santos O. R.] as her coguardian.... On that date, she also filed a petition for special immigrant juvenile status [ (juvenile status) ] findings under 8 U.S.C. § 1101 [ (a) (27) (J) (2012) ], pursuant to § 45a–608n, to be used in connection with an application to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services [ (Immigration Services) ].... Finally, on that date, [the petitioner] filed a motion for waiver of study by the Department of Children and Families [ (department) ] for Henrry, notifying the Probate Court that Henrry would be turning eighteen in approximately five weeks, and that time was of the essence....

"In her motion for waiver of the [department] study, [the petitioner] stated that Henrry was currently without legal status in the United States and [was] seeking findings from the court in connection with an application for [juvenile status] through [Immigration Services].... She explained that the child had fled his country of origin of Honduras due to threatened violence against his life and that of his sister; that the father and paternal grandfather of the minor child[ren] were both murdered by the same individuals who are now seeking to murder him and his sister as well; that it was not in the child's best interest to be returned to his country of origin where he will be placed at risk of imminent death.... She further claimed that no [department] study was needed here where the child was found to be in good health, was currently in the care of his biological mother and the proposed coguardian, [Santos O. R.], who have the emotional and physical ability to care for the minor, have the financial resources to care for the minor, and neither of which have a history of child abuse or neglect investigations or substantiations.... Finally, her motion stated that Henrry was over the age of twelve years old and consented to the petitions and relief sought, and was emotionally connected with [her], who would remain as guardian of the child.... Her motion concluded that it was in the best interest of the child to expedite the underlying petitions, indicating that the requirement to have the commissioner of [the department] complete a study would cause unreasonable delay that could prohibit this child from seeking relief from [Immigration Services] to obtain legal immigration status....

"On March 23, 2016, the Probate Court issued its first order of notice of hearing in this case indicating that the matter was being set down for a hearing with ‘no appearance necessary’ by the parties on April 22, 2016, a date after Henrry's eighteenth birthday.... The Probate Court also [sent notice to] a [department] social work supervisor, ordering [the department] to complete a study for both minors on the petition for removal, and impliedly denying [the petitioner's] motion for the waiver of study by [the department] for Henrry....

"On April 1, 2016, with Henrry's eighteenth birthday closely approaching, with no [department] study and no hearing date, [the petitioner] filed an emergency petition for findings under § 45a–608n, the [juvenile status] statute.... In her motion, [the petitioner] requested that the court make findings in connection with her petition for [juvenile status] findings, or, in the alternative, hold an emergency hearing before Henrry's eighteenth birthday, in order to do so.... The attorney for the child, appointed by the Probate Court, Attorney Frank Twohill, having received a copy of the Emergency Petition, visited with the child and wrote a letter to the court indicating both his support for the Petition, and his availability for an evidentiary hearing on the emergency petition, should the court choose to hold one....

"On April 1, 2016, the Probate Court [Chadwick, J. ,] denied the emergency petition in a brief written order, indicating that: ‘The Emergency Petition for Findings under [§] 45a–608n, dated April 1, 2016, is hereby DENIED by the court. Pursuant to [§] 45a–608n (b), the granting of a petition to remove is a prerequisite to making the requested written findings.’ ... Henrry subsequently turned eighteen a few days later, before any hearing was ever held in the Probate Court.

"On April 22, 2016, [the petitioner] and Henrry (now eighteen years old) jointly filed an appeal to Superior Court for Juvenile Matters pursuant to [General Statutes §] 45a–186 (a) and Practice Book § 10–76 (a)...