IN RE: JAYDEN A. (2018)

Order, Family Court, New York County (Jane Pearl, J.), entered on or about August 29, 2016, which found that respondent father had neglected the subject children, unanimously affirmed, without costs.

The finding of neglect is supported by a preponderance of the evidence (see Nicholson v. Scoppetta, 3 N.Y.3d 357, 368, 787 N.Y.S.2d 196, 820 N.E.2d 840 [2004] ).  The evidence shows that the father knew or should have known about the mother's long-standing and serious mental health problems, and put the children at imminent risk of harm when he ignored the agency's directives and exposed the children to the mother immediately following her release from the hospital (see Matter of Toussaint E. [Angeline M.], 151 A.D.3d 417, 52 N.Y.S.3d 859 [1st Dept. 2017] ).  Even crediting the father's testimony, he left the children with the mother's adult daughter in the mother's home, where the mother could easily access them, despite the agency's directive not to leave the children with the mother's relatives.  Furthermore, the record shows that the mother was spending time with the children since the agency caseworker overheard the children's voices while speaking with the mother on the telephone.  The father's actions would have amounted to neglect even if they had not resulted in a violation of the court's temporary order of protection barring the mother from having contact with the children.