Matter of Erika G

In Matter of Erika G. (289 A.D.2d 803, 734 N.Y.S.2d 351 [3d Dept 2001]) the appellate court upheld a finding that the respondent father abandoned his children by moving out of state in September 1999, leaving the children in the care of their mother, and having no contact with them before March 2000, when the authorized agency filed the petition under Social Services Law 384-b. The children, who had previously been in foster care in 1998, were returned to foster care by court order in November 1999. The six-month period of abandonment included two months when the children were in the custody of their mother, and four months when the children were in foster care.