In re Lonell J.

Lonell J. (Father) and Nicole B. (Mother) were the parents of Latisha and Lonell Jr. Father and Mother engaged in a pattern of domestic violence. The police were called multiple times over the course of one month, with one visit leading to Father’s arrest. A protection-from-abuse order was issued against Father, and the children were removed from their home and placed in foster care. The Administration for Children’s Services (the administration) filed neglect petitions alleging incidents of medical neglect and domestic violence, asserting that Father had beaten Mother with the children watching. At a fact-finding hearing, two caseworkers for the administration offered evidence that Father regularly committed domestic abuse against Mother and testified regarding unsanitary conditions and the children’s poor health that the caseworkers had observed. Father and Mother offered alternative rationales for what the caseworkers observed, stating that Lonell Jr. was sickly and unkempt due to an illness that made keeping food down difficult for him, for which he had seen a doctor several times. Regarding Latisha’s unchanged diaper, the parents explained that the caseworker’s early morning visit had occurred before they had the opportunity to change the diaper. The hearing court dismissed the neglect petitions. The court determined that medical neglect had not been proved. In addition, the court refused to make a finding of emotional neglect based on witnessing domestic violence. The court reasoned that because the legislature had not amended Family Court Act § 1012 (the act) to make domestic abuse between a child’s parents an act of neglect per se, expert testimony was required to demonstrate that Lonell Jr. and Latisha were traumatized by seeing Father and Mother’s fights. An appeal was filed. On appeal, an appellate court considered § 1012, which defined a neglected child, provided examples of neglect, and did not mandate expert testimony. The appellate court also considered § 1036(a)(viii), which indicated that proof of impairment of emotional status due to a parent’s lack of minimal care may include expert testimony.