New York Consolidated Laws, Family Court Act - FCT § 624. Evidence

Only competent, material and relevant evidence may be admitted in a fact-finding hearing;  only material and relevant evidence may be admitted in a dispositional hearing.  Evidence of parental contact or of failure to maintain contact with a child subsequent to the date of the filing of a petition under this part shall be inadmissible in the fact-finding hearing.  Such evidence may be admitted in the dispositional hearing but shall not, of itself, be sufficient as a matter of law to preclude or require an order committing the guardianship and custody of the child.