## Facts

- Gregory F., the father of Gregory B. and Kareem B., was incarcerated from August 1980 on a felony conviction and was serving a 10-to-20-year sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility.
- Gregory and Kareem were born in December 1979 and November 1980, respectively.
- The children entered foster care in October 1981 under voluntary placement agreements executed by their mother with St. Dominic’s Home, an authorized child care agency.
- The children were placed with the same foster family in November 1981 (with an older half-sibling) and remained there for years; the foster parents wished to adopt them.
- The children had medical and psychological needs; Kareem required periodic hospitalization for asthma, but both children were reported to be thriving in the foster home.
- In July 1986, St. Dominic’s Home petitioned to terminate both biological parents’ rights on the ground of permanent neglect and to free the children for adoption.
- At the fact-finding hearing, the agency showed it arranged numerous prison visits and pursued relatives identified by the father as possible custodians.
- The father maintained some contact while incarcerated but did not present a feasible long-term plan for the children’s care given the length of his incarceration.

## Issues

1. Whether clear and convincing evidence supported a finding that an incarcerated parent “permanently neglected” his children under Social Services Law § 384-b(7)(a).
2. Whether the agency made the statutorily required diligent efforts to encourage and strengthen the parent-child relationship.
3. Whether the parent, despite incarceration, substantially and continuously or repeatedly failed to plan for the children’s future.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the orders terminating the father’s parental rights and freeing the children for adoption.
- The court held that termination was proper and supported by clear and convincing evidence of permanent neglect under Social Services Law § 384-b(7)(a).
- The court treated incarceration as relevant to contact and planning, but not an automatic ground for termination.

## Legal Principles

- Permanent neglect under Social Services Law § 384-b(7)(a) requires proof that (1) the child was in agency care for the statutory period, (2) the agency made diligent efforts to strengthen the parental relationship, and (3) the parent failed for at least one year to maintain contact with or plan for the child’s future, despite being able to do so.
- Incarceration does not, by itself, establish permanent neglect; courts must examine the parent’s efforts to maintain contact and, especially, to make a realistic plan for the child during incarceration.
- “Planning for the future of the child” requires more than intermittent communication; it requires a workable arrangement for the child’s long-term care.
- Termination of parental rights for permanent neglect must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.

## Conclusion

The court upheld termination because the agency made diligent efforts to facilitate visitation and explore relatives, while the father’s lengthy incarceration and lack of a feasible long-term care plan amounted to permanent neglect proven by clear and convincing evidence, justifying freeing the children for adoption.


Matter of Gregory B., 542 N.E.2d 1052 (N.Y. 1989)