PARENTING TIME AND EARLY RECOVERY

There is a saying - you have to give "time" time. But at least here the supervised visitation is at the parent's home with the parent's family. And to the parent in this matter: it is pretty much an axiom in recovery, especially from opioid addiction, to stay away from all intoxicants.

Matter of Curtis D. v Samantha E., 2020 NY Slip Op 02137, Decided on April 2, 2020, Appellate Division, Third Department:

"Generally, the party seeking modification of a prior order of custody and/or visitation must first
The evidence at the fact-finding hearing established that the father has a long history of opioid addiction. Following the child's birth in 2015, the parties initially resided together; however, in May 2016, Child Protective Services issued an indicated report against the father for inadequate guardianship after the mother reported finding a bag of heroin on the floor near where the child played.[FN2] The parties' relationship ended the following month and, shortly thereafter, the father was convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance. In May or June 2017, the father was also convicted of criminal contempt and sentenced to three years of probation after he violated an order of protection in favor of the mother. To the father's credit, in November 2017, he completed a 19-day inpatient treatment program and thereafter followed through with a regimen of intensive outpatient treatment. In March 2018, however, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he had a "couple of beers" with a friend and drove his vehicle off the road; he was later convicted of driving while ability impaired. Despite this setback, the father completed outpatient treatment in June 2018 and, since the commencement of his 2017 probation, he has consistently tested negative for drug use. The father has also maintained full-time employment as a subcontractor and resides with his parents and his 16-year-old son from a prior relationship, of whom he has full custody. Further, from February 2017 to February 2018, with the mother's consent, he regularly exercised supervised visitation with the child on alternating weekends and one weekday each week at his parents' home, and the paternal grandfather and the father's sister both testified that, having supervised such visitation, they perceive no safety concerns with his visitation with the child.

Despite the father's laudable treatment gains, however, his sobriety is a relatively new development. He continues to be medically assisted in treatment via a twice daily regimen of Suboxone and, per his own self-assessment, it is "an everyday fight to stay away from [his] addiction." The father's testimony further revealed that he tends to minimize his conduct and deflect blame for his poor decision-making. On the record before us, therefore, and according deference to Family Court's fact-finding and credibility assessments, we find that there is a sound and substantial basis in the record supporting Family Court's determination to award the father supervised visitation (see Matter of Carrie ZZ. v Aaron YY., 178 AD3d 1291, 1292-1293 [2019]; Matter of Williams v Patinka, 144 AD3d 1432, 1433 [2016]; compare Matter of Spoor v Carney, 149 AD3d 1209, 1210-1211 [2017])."