DECISION ORDER
ORDERED that the order is reversed, on the law, without costs or disbursements, the application for temporary removal is granted, and the matter is remitted to the Family Court, Nassau County, for further proceedings consistent herewith, including an immediate fact-finding hearing, to be completed expeditiously.
On May 19, 2003, the Nassau County Department of Social Services (hereinafter the DSS) filed an emergency petition pursuant to Family Court Act § 1022 seeking to remove one-year-old Toni G. from her parents' custody and to place her in temporary foster care pending the determination of an abuse proceeding based upon the parents' alleged failure to provide Toni with proper nutrition. A few days earlier, Toni G. was hospitalized due to malnourishment. Although she was 12 months old, she only weighed 10 pounds 2.5 ounces.
On May 20, 2003, the Family Court commenced a hearing to determine the issue of Toni's temporary removal. On or about May 22, 2003, the Family Court granted the DSS a temporary order of custody and Toni was placed in foster care. Thereafter, on or about May 28, 2003, the DSS filed a formal abuse petition against the respondent parents. Hearings continued until June 5, 2003. Counsel for the parents argued that the DSS failed to meet its burden of proving the need for temporary removal and suggested that Toni's cousin and grandmother could serve as temporary custodians. By order dated June 10, 2003, the Family Court granted temporary custody of Toni to her 20-year-old cousin and grandmother. The DSS appeals. By decision and order on motion of this court dated June 25, 2003, enforcement of the order of the Family Court was stayed pending the hearing and determination of this appeal. We now reverse.
The evidence adduced at the hearings demonstrated that returning Toni to her mother and father presents, as the Family Court found, an imminent risk to the child's health ( see Family Ct Act §§ 1022, 1027, 1028). Contrary to the parents' contention, the record contains no evidence to show that such risk would be eliminated by granting temporary custody to Toni's cousin and grandmother. Indeed, the order would allow the grandmother and cousin to reside with Toni's parents while the abuse proceeding is pending, and there is no evidence to show that the household's offending circumstances have been remedied ( see Matter of Angela D., 154 A.D.2d 567; cf. Matter of Alyssa S., 296 A.D.2d 462; Matter of Stephen D., 250 A.D.2d 845; Matter of LaShawn G., 161 A.D.2d 712, 713).
Moreover, the record is devoid of evidence that the cousin and grandmother are suitable custodians ( see Matter of Baby Girl L., 133 A.D.2d 458, 460). The Family Court, in chambers, conducted off-the-record ex parte discussions with the cousin and grandmother by telephone, in the absence of counsel, upon which it based its decision to award them temporary custody. Thus, the Family Court's decision regarding temporary custody lacks a sound and substantial basis in the record ( see Matter of Millan v. Vargas, 5 A.D.3d 602; Kuncman v. Kuncman, 188 A.D.2d 517, 518).
In light of the evidence in the record, the safer course is not to return the child to her parents' household, but to keep her in temporary foster care pending a full fact-finding hearing ( see Matter of Robert H., 307 A.D.2d 293, 294; Matter of Marcos O., 270 A.D.2d 270, 271-272; Matter of Erika B., 268 A.D.2d 586; Matter of William C., 209 A.D.2d 408, 409; Matter of Caroline C., 206 A.D.2d 529, 530; Matter of Darnell D., 139 A.D.2d 610, 611). Moreover, because the respondent parents have now been separated from their child for over 10 months, we direct that the matter be set down for an immediate hearing to be completed expeditiously. Pending resolution of the petition, the Family Court should arrange for appropriate visitation between the child and her parents and other family members, as well as continued involvement by the parents in the child's health care. This decision should not be construed, however, as suggesting any particular determination on the abuse petition ( see Matter of Bobby M., 103 A.D.2d 777, 779).
ALTMAN, J.P., S. MILLER, LUCIANO and CRANE, JJ., concur.