New Jersey Division of Youth & Family Services v. C.H.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

AXELRAD, P.J.A.D.

In this appeal, we address the trial court’s sua sponte dismissal of an abuse or neglect complaint filed by the Division of Youth and Family Services (the Division)1 in the interim between the close of its presentation of evidence and the scheduled return date for defense witness testimony, without notice to the parties or an opportunity to be heard. The case arose out of the ingestion of about thirty prescription pills by J.B., a toddler, while he was solely supervised by his mother C.H., resulting in a severe medication overdose,…