In the Matter of GI, FH# 2017-0137

Affirmed - DCF had reasonable cause to support the 51A decision for neglect against the Appellant (maternal grandmother and guardian of the child "N"). A Probate and Family Court Order from June 24, 2014 ordered the Appellant to continue to serve as the guardian of N due to a history of substance abuse, mental health issues, and criminal activity by N's mother. Between 2014 and the filing of the 51A report in 2017, further criminal activity and substance abuse by the mother and father led the Department to advise that all visits between N's parents and N be supervised. However, the Appellant allowed N to live with his father in the same house where the mother and various other adults with criminal records and warrants out for their arrest resided. The Appellant could not, or would not, provide an address for where the father lived, and when police responded to the father's apartment to serve an arrest warrant on N's mother (who was living there), they found drug paraphernalia consistent with crack cocaine use. As N's legal guardian, the Appellant is responsible for the child, and by allowing N to live with his father, mother, and various other adults with criminal records and warrants out for their arrest, it was determined that the Appellant had placed the child's safety and well-being at risk.