In re T.M.A.

207 A.3d 375

In the INTEREST OF: T.M.A., a Minor

Appeal of: Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families

No. 1147 WDA 2018

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued January 16, 2019

Filed March 29, 2019

Darnel B. Long, Pittsburgh, for appellant.

Dawn M. Walters, Pittsburgh, for appellee.

BEFORE: BOWES, J., SHOGAN, J. and STRASSBURGER, J.^*

OPINION BY STRASSBURGER, J.:

Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and Families (CYF) appeals from the order entered July 19, 2018, wherein the juvenile court adjudicated minor child T.M.A. dependent pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 6302(6) of the Juvenile Act. We affirm.

T.M.A. was born in May 2001. At the time of the dependency adjudication, T.M.A. was 17 years old. T.M.A.'s mother is L.M. (Mother). T.M.A. has long believed that a man named M.A. was her father, despite Mother's knowledge that genetic testing in 2004 ruled out M.A.'s paternity. The record does not reveal when T.M.A. learned M.A. was not her father, but when she found out, this issue became one source of conflict between T.M.A. and Mother. Mother named another man, R.H., as T.M.A.'s father, but his paternity has not been legally established.¹

The instant matter² arose on June 18, 2018, when M.A.'s mother, P.A. (Petitioner), whom T.M.A. considers to be her grandmother, filed an application to file a private petition of dependency regarding T.M.A. pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 1320 ("Any person, other than the county agency, may present an application to file a private petition with the court."). Petitioner, proceeding pro se, utilized the form provided by the juvenile court, which combined the Pa.R.J.C.P. 1320 application and the dependency petition in one document. See generally Application to File Private Dependency Petition (Application) and Private Dependency Petition (Petition), 6/18/2018; Pa.R.J.C.P. 1330 (authorizing the filing of a dependency petition at any time). On the Application and Petition form, Petitioner checked a box indicating her belief that T.M.A. was "without proper parental care or control" pursuant to subsection (1) of the definition of dependent child set forth in 42 Pa.C.S. § 6302. Id. at 2. In support of her Application and Petition, Petitioner averred as follows.

My granddaughter has been living with me for [three] years. I am getting to the point where I need assitance [sic ] to continue to care for her. I also need the ability to make medical [and] education decisions for her in order to get her insurance. During a [j]uvenile consent decree hearing before Judge McCrady, I was advised to file for [d]ependency.

Id.

The juvenile court ordered CYF to investigate the allegations in Petitioner's Application and Petition. Order Referring Private Dependency Petition to [CYF] for Investigation, 6/11/2018, at 1. After a hearing pursuant to Pa.R.J.C.P. 1321, the juvenile court granted Petitioner's Application to file the Petition in accordance with Pa.R.J.C.P. 1321(B)(1). See Order, 6/28/2018, at 1. The juvenile court gave permission for CYF to intervene³ and scheduled an adjudication hearing on Petitioner's Petition. Id.

At the time of the adjudication hearing, T.M.A. was attending summer school. N.T., 7/18/2018, at 18. She was on probation and receiving services through probation, including therapy through Wesley Family Services, and drug and alcohol services, which she had completed. Id. at 18. Petitioner testified that T.M.A. has resided with her off and on her whole life, and resided with her consistently for the first three and one-half years of T.M.A.'s life and for the past three and one-half years. N.T., 7/18/2018, at 11. According to Petitioner, she desired to remain in the role of grandmother and for T.M.A. and Mother to get along as mother and daughter, "[b]ut it didn't happen like that, because [T.M.A.] was having issues and she came to stay with me[, and] I'm not going to put her out on the street." Id. at 11-12. She testified that she needed assistance caring for T.M.A. Id. at 12. Specifically, T.M.A. is in need of health insurance, and Petitioner cannot make any appointments for T.M.A. without it as she is not financially able to pay the bill. Id. at 12-13. Petitioner also lacked medical-decision-making authority to assist T.M.A. with any health issues, including T.M.A.'s ongoing need for an inhaler to treat her asthma. Id. at 12.

During her testimony, Mother acknowledged that T.M.A. went back and forth between her house and Petitioner's house, especially when T.M.A. did not like Mother's rules. Id. at 14, 16, 27-28. Mother testified that she never gave permission for T.M.A. to stay with Petitioner. Id. at 31. When asked if Mother was willing to have T.M.A. back, she responded by saying T.M.A. was not ready because T.M.A. is upset by the "whole paternity situation." Id. at 27. When pressed further, Mother stated, "Whenever she can come. I mean, I don't care. I never said she -- I mean, she never got good help." Id.

Mother admitted she had stopped providing insurance for T.M.A. a few months ago; she did not renew it for T.M.A. because T.M.A. was not staying in her house. Id. at 23-24, 33-35. Mother did not know the last time T.M.A. went to the dentist or the exact status of T.M.A.'s asthma and required inhaler. Id. at 24-26. Mother signed an individualized education plan (IEP) for T.M.A. for her "learning" but did not know with which services T.M.A. needed or already had. Id. at 26-27, 30. She also did not know whether or not T.M.A. had been recommended for an evaluation for medication. Id. at 30. Mother provided T.M.A. with new shoes for the first day of school when T.M.A. asked her to do so. Id. at 28.

T.M.A. testified that she wanted to stay with Petitioner and does not want to return home to Mother because of conflict between them. Id. at 39-40. From T.M.A.'s perspective, Mother just is not "in [her] life," it felt as if she did not have a mother, and Mother does not show her that she loves or cares about her. Id. at 39, 42. T.M.A. did not want anything to do with Mother because of the "dad situation;" T.M.A. said Mother made her feel as if she did not have a father. Id. T.M.A. testified that if the juvenile court ordered her to return to Mother, she would not go. Id. at 39. In the previous year before the hearing, T.M.A. was returned to Mother's home, but she stayed there for only one week before returning to Petitioner's house. Id. at 43. T.M.A. used to desire to have a relationship with Mother and undergo family therapy with Mother, but she no longer wanted to do so, although she later said she might eventually. Id. at 41, 47. She did wish to continue with her own individual therapy and look into medication because she believed her anger was "out of control." Id. at 41, 45. At the time of the hearing, T.M.A. had an inhaler, which had been provided by her other grandmother, but she testified that she would need another one eventually to address her asthma. Id. at 44. Her tooth was hurting and she needed to go to the dentist. Id. She also was in the need of more clothes because she kept growing. Id. at 46.

The supervisor of T.M.A.'s juvenile probation officer testified that T.M.A. was meeting all of her conditions of probation, she has good behavior in school, she receives a special education curriculum through her IEP, and she is working on goals with her counselor through probation. Id. at 52-54. However, she noted that probation cannot provide medical treatment, food, or clothing for T.M.A. Id. She also verified that T.M.A. goes back and forth between Mother's house and Petitioner's house, especially after Mother claimed T.M.A. was misbehaving. Id. at 53.

Finally, T.M.A.'s therapist from Wesley Family Services testified that he had been working with T.M.A. for a year and she has made some improvement with her social skills and decision making. Id. at 56. He believed she needed additional services to help her transition into adulthood. Id. About a year ago, her therapist reached out to Mother to obtain an evaluation for mental health medication for T.M.A. but "it kind of fell through," and T.M.A. still needed a medication evaluation. Id. at 57. She also needed to continue to work on things like getting a job and doing better in school. Id. at 58. Overall, however, he believed T.M.A. was "pretty much doing what she needs to do." Id.

At the conclusion of the hearing, CYF opposed an adjudication of dependency, arguing that Petitioner stood in loco parentis ,⁴ was able to provide for T.M.A.'s needs, and could obtain medical assistance for T.M.A. if Petitioner provided her own personal income information and filled out the medical assistance application. Id. at 60. Petitioner, who appeared pro se , argued that she needed assistance for T.M.A. and noted she had no legal authority to operate as her guardian. Id. at 61. T.M.A., through her attorney,⁵ argued that she was dependent⁶ under subsection (1) or subsection (6) of the definition of dependent child set forth at 42 Pa.C.S. § 6302. Id. at 63. The juvenile court determined that Petitioner did not satisfy her burden of proving subsection (1), but did establish dependency pursuant to subsection (6) due to parent/child conflict. Id. at 64. Accordingly, the juvenile court entered an order adjudicating T.M.A. dependent pursuant to subsection (6).

CYF timely filed a notice of appeal from the adjudication order. Both CYF and the juvenile court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925. CYF raises the following issue for our review: "[w]hether the [juvenile] court abused its discretion when it adjudicated T.M.A. dependent when there was insufficient evidence presented to support a finding of dependency?"⁷ CYF's Brief at 4.

We review an order adjudicating a child dependent for an abuse of discretion. In the Interest of: S.U. , 204 A.3d 949, 963, 2019 WL 763579 (Pa. Super. 2019) (en banc ). "An abuse of discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but is, inter alia , a manifestly unreasonable judgment or a misapplication of law." In Interest of C.K. , 165...