In re RM

790 A.2d 300

567 Pa. 646

In the Interest of R.M., a minor.

Appeal of W.M. and L.M., Parents of R.M., a Minor.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Submitted October 15, 2001.

Decided February 21, 2002.

Kevin Andrew Hardy, Stroudsburg, for W.M. and L.M., Parents of R.M.

David James Williamson, East Stroudsburg, for R.M., a Minor.

Elizabeth B. Weeks, for Monroe Co. Children and Youth Services.

Before ZAPPALA, C.J., and CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION

SAYLOR, Justice.

This case concerns the constitutional requirement of notice in connection with an adjudication of dependency under the Juvenile Act, as well as the necessity for adherence to statutory directives governing an agency's taking of custody under the Child Protective Services Law.

On February 3, 2000, Monroe County Children and Youth Services ("MCCYS") received a referral from a school official to the effect that R.M., then ten years old, had reported that his adoptive parents physically abused him. MCCYS dispatched caseworkers to investigate, and R.M. was taken into protective custody pursuant to the Child Protective Services Law.¹ On the same day, MCCYS telephoned the parents, Appellants herein, to inform them of the agency's action and the underlying allegations. The following day, a Friday, MCCYS filed an emergency petition pursuant to the Juvenile Act,² averring, inter alia, that R.M. was a dependent child in need of care, protection, treatment, and supervision; relating details from R.M.'s report of physical abuse; including, among these details, a reference to sexual misconduct on the part of R.M.'s older brother, M.M., involving R.M. and others;³ and requesting that MCCYS be granted legal and physical custody. An order scheduling hearing on the petition for the following Monday was served on Appellants that evening, together with a copy of the emergency petition. In the interim, the juvenile court appointed a guardian ad litem, and Appellants were not advised of R.M.'s location or permitted contact.

The following week, the juvenile court heard testimony from R.M., his mother and other family members, school officials, and social workers who had interviewed R.M. Although the proceedings were initially focused on the allegations of physical abuse, several witnesses' testimony raised additional areas of concern regarding R.M.'s welfare. First, R.M. suffered from potentially serious behavioral problems, frequently acting in a violent and disruptive manner in the home environment. A related issue was the medication prescribed to R.M. to control his behavior, which appeared to cause lethargy. Finally, as arguably alluded to in the petition, R.M. and his older brother, M.M., had been discovered, several months prior to the dependency proceeding, engaging in a sexual act. Although M.M. had eventually been placed in an institution in connection with this and similar transgressions, there was evidence to the effect that the mental health counseling and treatment made available to R.M. had been minimal; moreover, M.M. was permitted to stay in the family home for several months after the incident.

During the hearings, Appellants filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, seeking R.M.'s release from state custody based upon the contention that MCCYS violated various provisions of the CPSL, and that R.M. was not an abused, neglected, or dependent child. The statutory violations asserted on the part of MCCYS were: failure to notify Appellants in writing of R.M.'s whereabouts;⁴ failure to convene a required conference with Appellants;⁵ and failure to obtain required judicial authorization within twenty-four hours of assuming custody of R.M.⁶ In addition, Appellants complained that the juvenile court had neglected to conduct a required informal detention hearing within seventy-two hours of the taking.⁷ The juvenile court denied the requested relief in a written opinion, deeming the petition an attempt to circumvent protections for children established in the Juvenile Act by bypassing the dependency proceedings.

In mid-February, all interested parties filed proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and arguments. The guardian ad litem's submission included findings and argument positing that, "[e]ven if the allegations [of abuse] are not true, there are serious concerns raised by this matter which require the involvement of the Juvenile Act." In this regard, the guardian emphasized the evidence of sexual abuse by R.M.'s brother, the asserted overmedication of R.M., and R.M.'s longstanding mental and emotional problems focused within the household, concluding that:

Of primary concern is the extent of the medication, lack of a clear diagnosis and minimal involvement of counseling and psychiatric professionals for this ten year old boy. Therefore, the child does not appear to have the proper parental care or control at this time.

While this submission was filed in the juvenile court, there is nothing of record to attest to its service upon Appellants.

In late February, the court reconvened the proceedings to hear the testimony of a court-appointed psychologist. Appellants were also permitted to conduct depositions of a pediatrician and a psychiatrist acquainted with R.M.'s case, which were thereafter admitted into evidence.

On March 21, 2000, the juvenile court issued an opinion and order declaring R.M. a dependent child. Significantly, the order was not based upon the allegations of physical abuse, which the court found to be baseless, but on the alternative grounds identified in the guardian ad litem's submission, namely, R.M.'s behavioral problems, his apparent overmedication, Appellants' handling of the sexual incident with M.M., and the need for intensive mental health counseling which Appellants had failed to secure. The court therefore granted MCCYS legal custody of R.M., with authority to grant medical and educational consent in lieu of parental authorization. It declined, however, to award physical custody in favor of the agency, but rather, restored physical custody to Appellants.

On appeal to the Superior Court, Appellants argued, inter alia, that the juvenile court violated their due process rights by premising its order upon circumstances that were not identified in the dependency petition; additionally, Appellants reasserted the grounds set forth in their habeas corpus petition concerning MCCYS's failure to adhere to mandatory procedures under the CPSL in securing custody. The Superior Court rejected both arguments and affirmed the trial court's order in a memorandum opinion. Regarding due process, the court considered its prior decision in In re M.B., 356 Pa.Super. 257, 514 A.2d 599 (1986), aff'd, 517 Pa. 459, 538 A.2d 495 (1988), in which it had vacated an adjudication of dependency on due process grounds where the petitioning agency failed to allege the child's dependency pursuant to the Juvenile Act, but rather, set forth solely allegations of abuse pursuant to the CPSL. See M.B., 356 Pa.Super. at 261, 514 A.2d at 602. The Superior Court distinguished M.B., however, on the basis that MCCYS had invoked the Juvenile Act with respect to R.M. and included the essential allegation of dependency. According to the court, the petition was sufficient to comport with due process requirements, since it clearly communicated the nature of Appellants' interests at stake. Additionally, the Superior Court attributed significance to the fact that the circumstances giving rise to the dependency determination were elicited for the first time at the hearings before the juvenile court. Regarding the claim that MCCYS violated statutory procedures, the Superior Court conceded that MCCYS's actions were not in strict compliance with the CPSL. Nevertheless, since MCCYS did adhere to other requirements that resulted in notice to Appellants and enabled them to secure representation for purposes of the juvenile hearings, the court concluded that any departures constituted harmless error.

Presently, Appellants maintain both the constitutional due process and statutory claims litigated in the Superior Court.

Although by design juvenile proceedings are characterized by a degree of informality and flexibility, where constitutionally protected interests are at stake,⁸ the Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution impose a requirement of fundamental fairness. See U.S. CONST. amends. V, XIV § 1; see also M.B., 356 Pa.Super. at 260,514 A.2d at 601. See generally Harrington v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp., 563 Pa. 565, 574-76, 763 A.2d 386, 392 (2000). While due process requirements are themselves flexible and non-technical, they subsume a core demand for adequate notice provided sufficiently in advance of a deprivation proceeding so as to afford a reasonable opportunity to prepare a defense. See id. (citing Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 314, 70 S.Ct. 652, 657, 94 L.Ed. 865 (1950)).

In criminal and certain quasi-criminal matters, the United States Supreme Court has discerned a due process requirement that alleged misconduct must be identified with particularity in the essential notice conferred. See generally In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 33, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 1446, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967) (articulating requirements for due process notice in the context of a juvenile delinquency proceeding). Therefore, in such settings, variances between charging document and proofs or, for that matter, judicial determinations, cannot generally be condoned where they are of such nature and magnitude as to inhibit an effective response to the charges or allegations. See Cole v. Arkansas, 333 U.S. 196, 201, 68 S.Ct. 514, 517, 92 L.Ed. 644 (1948); Commonwealth v. Swint, 465 Pa. 450, 455-56, 350 A.2d 851, 853-54 (1976); accord Lucas v. O'Dea, 179 F.3d 412, 417-18 (6th Cir.1999).

In the juvenile dependency setting, courts have advanced differing positions concerning the degree of specificity required to comport with due...