§ 1055-b. Custody or guardianship with a parent or parents, relatives
or suitable persons pursuant to article six of this act or guardianship
with relatives or suitable persons pursuant to article seventeen of the
surrogate's court procedure act. (a) Custody or guardianship with
respondent parent or parents, relatives or suitable persons. At the
conclusion of the dispositional hearing under this article, the court
may enter an order of disposition granting custody or guardianship of
the child to a respondent parent or parents, as defined in subdivision
(1) of section one thousand twelve of this article, or a relative or
relatives or other suitable person or persons pursuant to article six of
this act or an order of guardianship of the child to a relative or
relatives or suitable person or persons under article seventeen of the
surrogate's court procedure act if the following conditions have been
met:

(i) the respondent parent or parents, relative or relatives or
suitable person or persons has or have filed a petition for custody or
guardianship of the child pursuant to article six of this act or, in the
case of a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons, a
petition for guardianship of the child under article seventeen of the
surrogate's court procedure act; and

(ii) the court finds that granting custody or guardianship of the
child to such person or persons is in the best interests of the child
and that the safety of the child will not be jeopardized if the
respondent or respondents under the child protective proceeding are no
longer under supervision or receiving services. In determining whether
the best interests of the child will be promoted by the granting of
guardianship of the child to a relative who has cared for the child as a
foster parent, the court shall give due consideration to the permanency
goal of the child, the relationship between the child and the relative,
and whether the relative and the social services district have entered
into an agreement to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments
for the child to the relative under title ten of article six of the
social services law, and, if so, whether the fact-finding hearing
pursuant to section one thousand fifty-one of this part and a permanency
hearing pursuant to section one thousand eighty-nine of this chapter
have occurred and whether compelling reasons exist for determining that
the return home of the child and the adoption of the child are not in
the best interests of the child and are, therefore, not appropriate
permanency options; and

(iii) the court finds that granting custody or guardianship of the
child to the respondent parent, relative or suitable person under
article six of this act or granting guardianship of the child to the
relative or suitable person under article seventeen of the surrogate's
court procedure act will provide the child with a safe and permanent
home; and

(iv) all parties to the child protective proceeding consent to the
granting of custody or guardianship under article six of this act or the
granting of guardianship under article seventeen of the surrogate's
court procedure act; or, if any of the parties object to the granting of
custody or guardianship, the court has made the following findings after
a joint dispositional hearing on the child protective petition and the
petition under article six of this act or under article seventeen of the
surrogate's court procedure act:

(A) if a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have
filed a petition for custody or guardianship and a parent or parents
fail to consent to the granting of the petition, the court finds that
the relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have
demonstrated that extraordinary circumstances exist that support
granting an order of custody or guardianship to the relative or
relatives or suitable person or persons and that the granting of the
order will serve the child's best interests; or

(B) if a relative or relatives or suitable person or persons have
filed a petition for custody or guardianship and a party other than the
parent or parents fail to consent to the granting of the petition, the
court finds that granting custody or guardianship of the child to the
relative or relatives or suitable person or persons is in the best
interests of the child; or

(C) if a respondent parent has filed a petition for custody under
article six of this act and a party who is not a parent of the child
objects to the granting of the petition, the court finds either that the
objecting party has failed to establish extraordinary circumstances, or,
if the objecting party has established extraordinary circumstances, that
granting custody to the petitioning respondent parent would nonetheless
be in the child's best interests; or

(D) if a respondent parent has filed a petition for custody under
article six of this act and the other parent objects to the granting of
the petition, the court finds that granting custody to the petitioning
respondent parent is in the child's best interests.

(a-1) Custody and visitation petition of non-respondent parent under
article six of this act. Where a proceeding filed by the non-respondent
parent pursuant to article six of this act is pending at the same time
as a proceeding brought in the family court pursuant to this article,
the court presiding over the proceeding under this article may jointly
hear the dispositional hearing on the child protective petition under
this article and the hearing on the custody and visitation petition
under article six of this act; provided however, the court must
determine the non-respondent parent's custody and visitation petition
filed under article six of this act in accordance with the terms of that
article.

(a-2) Custody and visitation petition of non-respondent parent under
section two hundred forty of the domestic relations law. Where a
proceeding brought in the supreme court involving the custody of, or
right to visitation with, any child of a marriage is pending at the same
time as a proceeding brought in the family court pursuant to this
article, the court presiding over the proceeding under this article may
jointly hear the dispositional hearing on the child protective petition
under article ten of this act and, upon referral from the supreme court,
the hearing to resolve the matter of custody or visitation in the
proceeding pending in the supreme court; provided however, the court
must determine the non-respondent parent's custodial rights in
accordance with the terms of paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section
two hundred forty of the domestic relations law.

(b) An order made in accordance with the provisions of this section
shall set forth the required findings as described in subdivision (a) of
this section where applicable, including, if the guardian and the local
department of social services have entered into an agreement to provide
kinship guardianship assistance payments for the child to the relative
under title ten of article six of the social services law, that a
fact-finding hearing pursuant to section one thousand fifty-one of this
part and a permanency hearing pursuant to section one thousand
eighty-nine of this chapter have occurred, and the compelling reasons
that exist for determining that the return home of the child and the
adoption of the child are not in the best interests of the child and
are, therefore, not appropriate permanency options for the child, and
shall constitute the final disposition of the child protective
proceeding. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall
not issue an order of supervision nor may the court require the local
department of social services to provide services to the respondent or
respondents when granting custody or guardianship pursuant to article
six of this act under this section or granting guardianship under
article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act.

(c) As part of the order granting custody or guardianship pursuant to
article six of this act or granting guardianship under article seventeen
of the surrogate's court procedure act, the court may require that the
local department of social services and the attorney for the child
receive notice of, and be made parties to, any subsequent proceeding to
modify the order of custody or guardianship granted pursuant to the
article six proceeding or the order of guardianship granted pursuant to
article seventeen of the surrogate's court procedure act; provided,
however, if the guardian and the local department of social services had
entered into an agreement to provide kinship guardianship assistance
payments for the child to the relative under title ten of article six of
the social services law, the order must require that the local
department of social services and the attorney for the child receive
notice of, and be made parties to, any such subsequent proceeding
regarding custody or guardianship of the child.

(d) An order entered in accordance with this section shall conclude
the court's jurisdiction over the proceeding held pursuant to this
article and the court shall not maintain jurisdiction over the parties
for the purposes of permanency hearings held pursuant to article ten-A
of this act.

(e) The court shall hold age appropriate consultation with the child,
however, if the youth has attained fourteen years of age, the court
shall ascertain his or her preference for a suitable guardian.
Notwithstanding any other section of law, where the youth is over the
age of eighteen, he or she shall consent to the appointment of a
suitable guardian.