OPINION OF THE COURT
The critical issue on this appeal is the constitutionality of subdivision (e) of section 1039 of the Family Court Act which authorizes a conclusive finding of parental neglect and the consequent removal of a child, without an actual determination of whether the child has in fact been abused or neglected. Specifically, subdivision (e) of section 1039 provides that parental neglect shall be deemed to exist whenever a court finds that the parent has failed substantially to observe the terms of a previously ordered adjournment in contemplation of dismissal of charges of parental neglect or has failed to cooperate with the supervising child protective agency. Upon such a finding, regardless of whether the parental conduct actually constituted neglect or abuse, the court may proceed directly to a dispositional hearing and order the child removed. Both courts below found the provision to be unconstitutional. We now agree and affirm.
In September, 1979, petitioner Oneida County Department of Social Services (the Agency), originally com
Within two months, an agency social worker discovered the parent intoxicated and, with the latter’s consent, removed the child from the household for placement in foster care. In April, 1980, the Agency filed a petition alleging substantial violations of the conditions of the ACD in that the parent had consumed alcoholic beverages and had refused to be treated for alcoholism. The Agency requested that the ACD be revoked and that the child be removed from the parent’s custody pursuant to subdivision (e) of section 1039 of the Family Court Act. In opposition, counsel for the parent moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that those provisions, insofar as they authorize removal upon violation of an ACD, were unconstitutional.
Section 1039 of the Family Court Act permits the temporary removal of a child from the parent, as well as any other disposition under section 1052, otherwise authorized only after a formal neglect hearing (see §§ 1041-1049), without first requiring a determination whether the child has in fact been either abused or neglected. Under the provisions of this section, upon the filing of a neglect petition, the court may dispense with the normal fact-finding hearing and order that the child protective proceeding be adjourned in contemplation of dismissal. (§ 1039, subds [a], [c].) The court may proceed, either on its own motion or that of the child protective agency, but only with the parent’s consent. Moreover, the court must insure that the parent understands that a substantial violation of the terms of the ACD order would result in an automatic finding of neglect and the possible loss of parental rights. Thereafter, once the order is entered and for the duration of the adjournment period, the specifically disputed provisions of section 1039 take effect. Those provisions are contained in the last sentence of subdivision (e), which provides in its entirety: “(e) Upon application of the petitioner or the child’s attorney or law guardian, or upon the court’s own motion, made at any time during the duration of the order, the court may restore the matter to the calendar, if the court finds after a hearing that the respondent has failed substantially to observe the terms and conditions of the order or to cooperate with the supervising child protective agency. In such event, circumstances of neglect shall be deemed to exist, and the court may thereupon proceed to a dispositional hearing under this article
Fundamental constitutional principles of due process and protected privacy prohibit governmental interference with the liberty of a parent to supervise and rear a child except upon a showing of overriding necessity. (See Santosky v Kramer, 455 US 745, 753; Wisconsin v Yoder, 406 US 205, 232; Stanley v Illinois, 405 US 645, 651; Pierce v Society of Sisters, 268 US 510, 534.) Indeed, this court has repeatedly held that the State may not deprive a natural parent of the right to the care and custody of a child absent a demonstration of abandonment, surrender, persisting neglect, unfitness or other like behavior evincing utter indifference and irresponsibility to the child’s well-being. (Matter of Male Infant L., 61 NY2d 420, 427; Matter of Dickson v Lascaris, 53 NY2d 204, 208; Matter of Bennett v Jeffreys, 40 NY2d 543, 544; Matter of Spence-Chapin Adoption Serv. v Polk, 29 NY2d 196, 204; People ex rel. Kropp v Shepsky, 305 NY 465, 468.) Legislation which authorizes the removal of a child f -om the parent without the requisite showing of such extraordinary circumstances constitutes an impermissible abridgement of fundamental parental rights.
In this case, as well as in similar situations, section 1039 would authorize the removal of the child upon the mere
Moreover, the mere fact that the statute requires that the court have previously ordered an ACD with the parent’s consent, as was the case here, does not somehow save it from constitutional infirmity. An ACD is emphatically not a determination on the merits. It is not akin to a finding of parental neglect, but, rather, it leaves the question unanswered. (See Hollender v Trump Vil. Coop., 58 NY2d 420; cf. CPL 170.55; People v Rickert, 58 NY2d 122.) Upon the parent’s violation of the conditions of the ACD order within the established time period, the child protective proceedings formerly adjourned may again be commenced. But the violation per se may not summarily be transformed into an adjudication of parental neglect. Rather, there must first be a finding of actual neglect, whether before or after the violation. Indeed, there must be a formal hearing and a clear demonstration that the child in question has in fact been neglected or abused either as a result of the allegations in the neglect petition, the parent’s failure to abide by the conditions of the ACD, or otherwise.
Finally, the Appellate Division did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the original neglect petition or the petition alleging violation of the ACD. Nothing herein precludes the agency from bringing another petition alleging any actual facts of parental neglect which would support a judicial finding thereof.
Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division holding the last sentence of subdivision (e) of section 1039 of the
Order affirmed, without costs.
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In fact, the court informed the parent that her “children" could be taken from her. The record shows that respondent is the mother of two other daughters, both of whom have been placed in foster care homes. The ACD motion and order concerned one of those children, as well as Marie B., but this proceeding involves only the latter.