J-A19044-22 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 IN THE INTEREST OF B.M.F., A : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF MINOR : PENNSYLVANIA : : APPEAL OF: M.F., MOTHER : : : : : No. 352 MDA 2022 Appeal from the Decree Entered January 28, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County Orphans' Court at No(s): A-9166 BEFORE: BOWES, J., KING, J., and STEVENS, P.J.E.* MEMORANDUM BY STEVENS, P.J.E.: FILED: AUGUST 4, 2022 Appellant, M.F. (“Mother”), files this appeal from the order entered January 28, 2022, in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, granting the petition of the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services (“CYS” or “the agency”) to involuntarily terminate Mother’s parental rights to her minor, female child, B.M.F., born in August 2019 (“Child”), pursuant to the Adoption Act, 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 2511(a)(5), (8), and (b).1 After careful review, we affirm. Shortly after Child’s birth in August 2019, hospital staff contacted CYS with concerns that Mother had significant difficulties caring for Child’s basic needs (e.g. changing her diaper and feeding her). Petition for Termination, 6/30/21, at 2-3; Notes of Testimony (N.T.), 1/20/22, at 66. Hospital staff ____________________________________________ * Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court. 1 Child’s biological father is deceased. J-A19044-22 reported that Mother exhibited resistance to their attempts to guide her with Child’s care and Mother would not wake up to change or feed Child. Petition for Termination, 6/30/21, at 2-3. CYS was informed that Mother has cerebral palsy, but Mother insisted she does not need medical care. Id. Child was placed in CYS’s care through an emergency shelter care order several days after her birth. On August 27, 2019, the Orphans’ Court held an adjudicatory and dispositional hearing at which Mother was ordered to submit to parenting classes and undergo a mental health examination. Thereafter, CYS referred the case to the Family Service Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which performed an assessment of Mother’s ability to parent Child. Mother was given a case plan in the intensive family reunification services program with four specific goals: (1) to understand Child’s basic safety needs and care, (2) to emphasize Mother’s ability to bond with Child, (3) to understand the importance of the overall health and mental health of both Mother and Child, and (4) to establish age appropriate expectations for Child. N.T., 1/20/22, at 9-10. Mother had weekly supervised visits at the agency from September 2019 through March 2020. When the COVID pandemic began in March 2020, in-person visits were suspended and Mother was only permitted video/phone visits. After Mother had spent a year in the intensive family reunification services program, her case was closed due to her lack of progress on her goals and her inability to progress further. Id. at 11, 21. Mother also exhibited -2- J-A19044-22 significant safety concerns at the time of closure such that caseworkers felt it would not be safe to leave Child in Mother’s care. Id. at 11. As Child grew, medical professionals discovered that Child …
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