Matter of Martin P.J.S. v Rhonda Wanda C.-J.

Matter of Martin P.J.S. (Rhonda Wanda C.-J.) 2003 NY Slip Op 18991 [1 AD3d 1066] December 2, 2003 Appellate Division, First Department As corrected through Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. As corrected through Wednesday, February 25, 2004

In the Matter of Martin P.J.S. and Another, Children Alleged to be Permanently Neglected. Rhonda Wanda C.-J., Appellant; Leake & Watts Services, Inc., et al., Respondents.

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Orders of disposition, Family Court, New York County (Jody Adams, J.), entered on or about March 1, 2002, which, insofar as appealed from, terminated respondent-appellant's parental rights and transferred custody and guardianship of the subject children to petitioner agency for the purpose of adoption by their respective foster parents, after a fact-finding determination of permanent neglect, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The finding of the Family Court, that it is in the best interests of the children to terminate parental rights and to free them for adoption by foster families with whom they have bonded and who have been providing for their special needs, was supported by the requisite fair preponderance of the evidence (Matter of Shaka Efion C., 207 AD2d 740 [1994]). Evidence of the biological mother's changed circumstances was not sufficient to warrant suspended judgment, given no real relationship between her and her children, and given the strong relationship the children have developed with their respective foster families (id.; Matter of Latesha Nicole M., 219 AD2d 521 [1995]). Concur—Buckley, P.J., Saxe, Ellerin, Marlow and Gonzalez, JJ.