Matter of Abreu v Hogan
2012 NY Slip Op 00066 [91 AD3d 996]
January 5, 2012
Appellate Division, Third Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, February 29, 2012


In the Matter of Carlos Abreu, Appellant,
v
Michael F. Hogan, as Commissioner of Mental Health, et al., Respondents.

[*1] Carlos Abreu, Romulus, appellant pro se.

Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General, Albany (Peter H. Schiff of counsel), for respondents.

McCarthy, J. Appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court (Devine, J.), entered December 13, 2010 in Albany County, which dismissed petitioner's application, in a proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78, to review a determination of the Central Office Review Committee denying his grievance.

Petitioner, while an inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility in Cayuga County, submitted a grievance in April 2008 contending that he was improperly being denied participation in the sex offender counseling and treatment program and was not receiving proper mental health treatment. Ultimately, the Central Office Review Committee denied petitioner's grievance, after which he commenced this CPLR article 78 proceeding. Supreme Court dismissed the petition and petitioner now appeals.

We affirm. The facility at which petitioner was incarcerated in April 2008 did not offer the sex offender counseling and treatment program, and petitioner was informed that, upon completion of his term in the special housing unit, he would be transferred to a facility that offered the program if his participation was deemed appropriate. In addition, the record demonstrates that petitioner's mental health needs are, indeed, being addressed. As such, we [*2]cannot say that the Central Office Review Committee's denial of petitioner's grievance was arbitrary and capricious or without a rational basis (see Matter of Lopez v Fischer, 83 AD3d 1230, 1231 [2011], lv denied 17 NY3d 709 [2011]; Matter of Simmons v New York State Dept. of Correctional Servs., 82 AD3d 1382, 1383 [2011]).

Spain, J.P., Malone Jr., Stein and Egan Jr., JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed, without costs.