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Husband and wife cancel vacation to help disaster relief effort

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Wells Fargo area president will step down in late September

<p>A Yatesville mother&#8217;s federal lawsuit against Luzerne County Children and Youth Services and several past and present employees was dismissed Monday, prompting a celebratory email to county council members.</p><p>&#8220;There is good news to report,&#8221; county Chief Solicitor Romilda Crocamo wrote to council.</p><p>The county was previously removed as a defendant, and U.S. Judge Robert D. Mariani issued an order Monday ending the litigation against the agency and workers.</p><p>&#8220;This means that all defendants have been removed and the matter is concluded,&#8221; Crocamo wrote.</p><p>Brooke Ciprich initiated the litigation in 2015, alleging the agency and workers violated her rights and exceeded their authority by taking temporary custody of her two children, then ages 4 and 2, following two violent encounters in 2013.</p><p>Children and Youth filed a motion seeking to have the lawsuit thrown out in September, arguing Ciprich failed to present facts supporting her allegations.</p><p>U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin C. Carlson earlier this year characterized Ciprich&#8217;s allegations as &#8220;sparse&#8221; and issued a recommendation to grant the county agency&#8217;s motion for dismissal.</p><p>According to background on the case in Mariani&#8217;s opinion:</p><p>Eric Phillips, the father of their two children, entered Ciprich&#8217;s home Nov. 18, 2013, and repeatedly struck Ciprich and fired a gun next to her head attempting to &#8220;terrorize&#8221; her.</p><p>Their child, identified as &#8220;T.P.,&#8221; was thrown to the floor and transported to a hospital for a depressed skull fracture. Their other child also was transported to the hospital for treatment.</p><p>Phillips was arrested that day and later posted bail.</p><p>Ciprich obtained a PFA against Phillips on Nov. 20, but she did not appear for a Nov. 26 PFA hearing, saying she had a number of appointments and had been confused by the date. She contacted law enforcement about refiling the PFA the day she learned about the missed hearing. Another temporary PFA was granted Dec. 5.</p><p>On Nov. 30, when Ciprich was staying with her longtime friend, Catherine Yankovich, Ciprich was forced to use pepper spray to keep Yankovich away from her when Yankovich lashed out in a &#8220;severe psychiatric episode&#8221; attributed to her bipolar disorder.</p><p>Children and Youth representatives said they held an internal meeting Dec. 10 and deemed the matter a &#8220;near fatality situation.&#8221; An emergency petition for shelter care of minor children was filed and granted.</p><p>During a visit to Ciprich&#8217;s home the same day, caseworkers took custody of the two children to place them in foster care, maintaining Ciprich should have informed them of Phillips&#8217; release and the pepper spray incident that occurred with Yankovich.</p><p>Custody of the children was returned to Ciprich following a shelter care hearing Dec. 20.</p><p>Judge Mariani questioned Ciprich&#8217;s assertion that the Dec. 10 Children and Youth meeting was unlawful because there was no near fatality.</p><p>He pointed to Ciprich&#8217;s &#8220;own allegations&#8221; that a serious incident occurred Nov. 18, when Phillips assaulted Ciprich, fired a gun next to her head and caused their child to be thrown to the floor.</p><p>The judge described Ciprich&#8217;s argument that she did not receive notice of the Dec. 10 meeting as &#8220;tenuous&#8221; because the law allows but does not require a parental representative at such meetings.</p><p>Ciprich&#8217;s court filings also don&#8217;t explain how the two incidents &#8220;would not create an objectively reasonable suspicion of abuse justifying the temporary removal of the children,&#8221; Mariani wrote.</p><p>In addition, she did not show the defendants&#8217; conduct was &#8220;intentional, outrageous or extreme&#8221; as necessary to prove intentional infliction of emotional distress, the judge ruled.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Crocamo </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/web1_crocamo.jpg</photo0><caption0>Crocamo </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County Children and Youth prevails in litigation filed by parent