| Matter of Gregory A.J. (Gregory J.) |
| 2015 NY Slip Op 03160 [127 AD3d 972] |
| April 15, 2015 |
| Appellate Division, Second Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| In the Matter of Gregory A.J. Little Flower Children and Family Services, Appellant, et al., Petitioner; Gregory J., Respondent, et al., Respondent. (Proceeding No. 1.) In the Matter of Alexis R.J. Little Flower Children and Family Services, Appellant, et al., Petitioner; Gregory J., Respondent, et al., Respondent. (Proceeding No. 2.) |
Carrieri & Carrieri, P.C., Mineola, N.Y. (Ralph R. Carrieri of counsel), for appellant.
Steven P. Forbes, Jamaica, N.Y., for respondent-respondent.
Richard L. Herzfeld, P.C., New York, N.Y., attorney for the children.
Appeal from an amended order of fact-finding of the Family Court, Queens County (Linda B. Tally, J.), dated December 10, 2013. The amended order, after a fact-finding hearing, dismissed related petitions to terminate the father's parental rights on the ground of permanent neglect.
Ordered that the amended order of fact-finding is affirmed, without costs or disbursements.
The Family Court properly dismissed the petitions because the petitioner failed to sustain its statutory burden of demonstrating, by clear and convincing evidence, that it exercised diligent efforts to strengthen the parental relationship between the children and the father (see Social Services Law § 384-b [7]; Matter of Sheila G., 61 NY2d 368 [1984]; cf. Matter of Star Leslie W., 63 NY2d 136 [1984]; Matter of Dutchess County Dept. of Social Servs. [Tony R.], 115 AD3d 952 [2014]). Balkin, J.P., Chambers, Miller and Hinds-Radix, JJ., concur.