Legislative candidate strives to enact grandparent's custody bill

Legislative candidate strives to enact grandparent's custody bill


By Diane Prokop

Times Staff Writer

While Mildred and Morris Brasovankin, who fought in 2007 to gain custody of their grandson Steven, were not successful, other grandparents could someday win similar petitions because of the former Oxford Circle couple.

Mildred died last month at the age of 88. Her husband of 56 years died in 2008 at 89.

The Brasovankins had been caring for grandson Steven Brasovankin, the child of their son, when the city's Department of Human Services responded to a court directive and removed the boy from them and placed him in foster care.

Their attorney, Marc Collazzo, now a Republican candidate for state representative in the 170th Legislative District, pledges if elected to introduce the Mildred and Morris Brasovankin Grandparents' Custody and Visitation Act to ensure that the couple's fight was not in vain.

According to Collazzo, current statutes allow for a grandparent to pursue custody, partial custody or visitation only when they have assumed the role of the parent for one year, or the child had to have already been determined to lack proper parental care.

"In my new bill, I would remove the one year in loco parentis requirement and utilize the best interest of the child standard," Collazzo said.

In addition, any social services agency that seeks to remove a child due to the age of the custodial grandparent must first conduct an immediate investigation with interviews and evaluations if necessary, then must bring the matter before a judge for an evidentiary hearing within ten (10) days.

"No longer can we allow DHS or any other agency to remove a child without a judicial determination being made as to the quality of care that he/she is being given (and) the impact it would have on the (child's) well-being to remove him/her from the caregiver," Collazzo said.

Support services such as schooling, counseling or medical care should also be made available to the family before removing a child from their grandparents.

"That action should be the last resort, not the first impulse," Collazzo said.

According to the candidate, Mildred Brasovankin's words inspired him after her death.

"We want to make it so that other grandparents who are willing and able to do it, can do it. I know that we're not the only ones," she told the Times in a 2007 interview.

After reading an article about Mildred's death last month, Collazzo decided that he owed it to the couple's memory to carry on that dream.

"They taught me more about courage, strength and the importance of family than I could ever repay," Collazzo said.

Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com

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