Arson Prozac, Paxil & Zoloft Antidepressants 17/06/2011 New Jersey Mother Has Habit of Setting Fires & Attempting Suicide
Arson Prozac, Paxil & Zoloft Antidepressants 2011-06-17 New Jersey Mother Has Habit of Setting Fires & Attempting Suicide
Summary:

Second paragraph reads in part:  "Since 1997, L.B. had been treated with numerous medications to treat her depression and her psychotic symptoms, including Risperdal, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft."  DYFS also learned that L.B. had a history of fire setting, the last one having occurred in 2000. DYFS also discovered that a month earlier, in September 2002, L.B.'s cousin reported to police that L.B. had threatened to jump in front of a moving train to commit suicide. When Dunellen police responded to the train station, they found L.B. on the platform.



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NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH v. L.B.


NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff-Respondent,
v.
L.B., Defendant-Appellant.
IN THE MATTER OF THE GUARDIANSHIP OF K.B. and J.K., minors.


No. A-4826-09T3.


Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division.


Submitted June 1, 2011.


Decided June 22, 2011.

Yvonne Smith Segars, Public Defender, attorney for appellant ( William J. Sweeney, Designated Counsel, on the briefs).
Paula T. Dow, Attorney General, attorney for respondent ( Andrea M. Silkowitz, Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Delia A. DeLisi, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
Yvonne Smith Segars, Pubic Defender, Law Guardian, attorney for minor respondents ( David R. Giles, Designated Counsel, on the brief).
Before Judges Wefing, Baxter and Koblitz.

 

 
NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION
PER CURIAM.
L.B. appeals from an April 23, 2010 Family Part order that terminated her parental rights to her two sons, K.B., born in the fall of 2001, and J.K., born in the early summer of 2005. On appeal, she argues that the order in question should be reversed because the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS or the Division) failed to satisfy the statutory standard for termination of parental rights set forth in N.J.S.A. 30:4C-15.1(a), and because the improper admission of hearsay evidence denied her a fair trial. We disagree with those contentions, and affirm the termination of L.B.'s parental rights.
I.
L.B. first came to the attention of the DYFS in October 2002, when the agency received a referral alleging that L.B.'s home was in disarray and smelled of urine, and that K.B., then eleven months old, had been pulling on his ears for weeks as though he had an ear infection. The referent also maintained that K.B. had not been seen by a pediatrician after being discharged from the hospital immediately after his birth.
The investigation conducted by DYFS not only confirmed the reports from the referent, but raised serious concerns about L.B.'s ability to parent due to her own longstanding psychiatric problems, which included a past history of psychiatric hospitalization and threats to commit suicide. In particular, during the visit to L.B.'s home, a caseworker found the house to be in "great disarray," with a pervasive smell of cat urine. DYFS learned that in 1997, when L.B. was fourteen years old, she had been admitted to a psychiatric facility following an overdose of Prozac. In the next five years, she was admitted to the psychiatric unit of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) on two other occasions, due to suicide attempts. Since 1997, L.B. had been treated with numerous medications to treat her depression and her psychotic symptoms, including Risperdal, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft.
DYFS also learned that L.B. had a history of fire setting, the last one having occurred in 2000. DYFS also discovered that a month earlier, in September 2002, L.B.'s cousin reported to police that L.B. had threatened to jump in front of a moving train to commit suicide. When Dunellen police responded to the train station, they found L.B. on the platform. The police immediately transported her to a crisis center for a psychiatric evaluation, which resulted in L.B. being referred to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) partial hospitalization program, and being prescribed anti-psychotic medication.