New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, 148 A.3d 128

Father (J.D., Jr.) had legal and physical custody of his ten-year-old son, Jason, when Division received referrals alleging he drank and left Jason unattended in a car outside a bar on a school night.
Police responded after the bar owner alerted them; officers observed signs of heavy intoxication, summoned rescue squad, and arrested father; father attempted to flee while believing his son remained in the vehicle.
Jason was taken inside by the bar owner after being in the car for several minutes; Jason denied seeing his father drink or act intoxicated, and initially denied seeing drugs/alcohol at home.
Father denied drinking to Division investigators and refused voluntary urine testing but later admitted consuming alcohol in a substance-abuse assessment (assessment admitted for impeachment only).
The parties agreed to a ‘‘trial on the papers’’ with redacted Division and police reports admitted by consent and no live witness testimony; Family Part found father abused/neglected the child by creating a substantial risk of harm.
The litigation was later terminated and physical custody remained with father; father appealed the fact-finding order challenging evidentiary sufficiency and procedure.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Admissibility of Division & police records	Records meet business-record exception; admissible for fact-finding	Court erred by admitting records without N.J.R.E. 104(a) witness and contained inadmissible embedded hearsay	Admission was invited by defense consent; invited-error bars challenge; court did not commit reversible/plain error
Reliance on embedded hearsay (off-duty trooper surveillance statements)	Hearsay in admissible records can be considered when parties waive objections	Embedded hearsay was inadmissible and unreliable	Defense waived objection; bench trial context reduces prejudice; court largely discounted the trooper timeline
Sufficiency of evidence to support abuse/neglect finding	Documentary record showed father intoxicated, left child unattended, attempted to flee — created substantial risk	Documentary-only hearing and lack of live testimony were insufficient to prove substantial risk; expert needed to show intoxication level	Sufficient evidence supported finding of substantial risk; expert testimony not required to opine intoxication
Use of father's substance-abuse admission	Admission properly used for impeachment of prior denials	Admission does not by itself prove abuse/neglect	Admission admissible for impeachment and did not materially drive the decision; court properly considered it only as impeachment

Cesare v. Cesare, 154 N.J. 394 (N.J. 1998) (deference to Family Court factfinding based on subject-matter expertise)
Dep’t of Children & Families v. T.B., 207 N.J. 294 (N.J. 2011) (statutory standard: failure to exercise minimum degree of care requires gross or wanton negligence)
G.S. v. Dep’t of Human Servs., 157 N.J. 161 (N.J. 1999) (reckless disregard/knowledge standard for neglect)
N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. M.C. III, 201 N.J. 328 (N.J. 2010) (invited-error doctrine in child-protection proceedings)
N.J. Div. of Child Prot. & Permanency v. R.W., 438 N.J. Super. 462 (App. Div. 2014) (embedded hearsay in Division records requires separate exception)
Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. M.G., 427 N.J. Super. 154 (App. Div. 2012) (business records vs. embedded hearsay; trustworthiness required)
N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. M.M., 189 N.J. 261 (N.J. 2007) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence in Family Part)
N.J. Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. P.W.R., 205 N.J. 17 (N.J. 2011) (appellate willingness to set aside rulings that are wide of the mark)
In re Guardianship of D.M.H., 161 N.J. 365 (N.J. 1999) (courts need not wait for actual impairment before protecting a child)
State v. Smith, 58 N.J. 202 (N.J. 1971) (laypersons may testify that someone appears intoxicated)
State v. Ingenito, 87 N.J. 204 (N.J. 1981) (hearsay admitted without objection is generally evidential)