Adoption of: N.R., Appeal of: J.S., Natural Father


J. S10044/20 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION – SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 IN RE: ADOPTION OF: N.R., A MINOR : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : APPEAL OF: J.S., NATURAL FATHER : No. 1829 MDA 2019 Appeal from the Decree Entered October 22, 2019, in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County Orphans’ Court Division at No. 61 ADOPT 2019 BEFORE: PANELLA, P.J., KUNSELMAN, J., AND FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E. MEMORANDUM BY FORD ELLIOTT, P.J.E.: FILED APRIL 01, 2020 J.S. (“Father”) appeals from the October 22, 2019 decree entered in the Court of Common Pleas of Franklin County, Orphans’ Court Division, involuntarily terminating his parental rights to his dependent male child, born in June 2018 (the “Child”), pursuant to the Adoption Act, 23 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 2511(a)(1), (2), and (b).1 We affirm. The orphans’ court set forth the following factual findings: [In June] 2018, [Franklin County Children & Youth Service (the “Agency”)] received a referral concerning [the Child,] a newborn[,] who was in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Chambersburg Hospital; the referral relayed concerns regarding [M]other’s ability to provide the [C]hild with basic care. The following day, the Agency conducted a hospital visit to determine whether Mother would be able to care for [the Child] upon discharge. Mother related Father was incarcerated at the Franklin County 1 We note that on the same date, the orphans’ court entered a decree that terminated the parental rights of the Child’s natural mother, I.R. (“Mother”). Mother is not a party to this appeal. J. S10044/20 Jail[Footnote 2] and was facing deportation, leaving her without sufficient family supports. [Footnote 2] The record reveals the following concerning Father’s incarceration[:] On February 6, 2018, Father was charged by the Chambersburg Police Department with two third degree felonies—Dissemination of Sexually Explicit Materials to a Minor and Unlawful Contact with a Minor—as well as felony counts of Identify Theft and Theft by Unlawful Taking—Movable Property. As a result, Father was incarcerated at the Franklin County Jail on February 6. He subsequently pled guilty to the Dissemination charge and entered a plea of nolo contendere on the Identity Theft charge. The February 2018[] charges were not Father’s first run-in with the law. In July 2014, he was charged with Simple Assault and was placed on Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD). However, Father later violated the conditions of ARD, and his participation in ARD was revoked as a result. In April 2015, Father was charged with Theft by Deception—False Impression, to which he later pled guilty. [When the Child] was discharged from Chambersburg Hospital [eight days after his birth,] the [orphans’ c]ourt immediately entered an Order for Emergency Protective Custody; [the Child] was placed in the temporary physical and legal custody of the Agency, as [the orphans’ court] determined that allowing [the Child] to remain in the home would be contrary to his welfare, given Mother’s issues with mental health and substance abuse, as well as her overall parenting ability. -2- J. S10044/20 That same day, a caseworker for ...

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