In re D.E., 061719 CAAPP2, B293175
| Opinion Judge | COLLINS, J. |
| Party Name | In re D.E., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. S.E., Defendant and Appellant. |
| Attorney | Caitlin U. Christian, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Mary C. Wickham, County Counsel, Kristine P. Miles, Assistant County Counsel, and Veronica Randazzo, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. |
| Judge Panel | We concur: MANELLA, P. J.CURREY, J. |
| Case Date | June 17, 2019 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County Nos. 18CCJP04685, 18CCJP04685A, Stephen C. Marpet, Juvenile Court Commissioner. Affirmed.
Caitlin U. Christian, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Mary C. Wickham, County Counsel, Kristine P. Miles, Assistant County Counsel, and Veronica Randazzo, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
COLLINS, J.
INTRODUCTION
After S.E. (mother) gave birth to her daughter, D., hospital staff contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), reporting that mother was acting erratically and inappropriately toward staff. Mother's parental rights to her older child had been terminated the month before D. was born. In light of mother's DCFS history, mother's mental health history, and mother's actions in this case, DCFS detained D.
Mother now challenges the juvenile court's finding of jurisdiction over D. under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b).1 We find that substantial evidence supports the jurisdictional finding, and affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Detention
According to the detention report, D. came to the attention of DCFS five days after her birth in July 2018. A hospital social worker contacted DCFS, alleging that mother had mental health issues and an extensive DCFS history. After birth, D. was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to “anomalies.” When D. was ready to be moved from the NICU to the nursery, mother expressed “paranoid beliefs” about the nursery and did not want the baby to go there. Mother also told hospital staff that she would lie to the hospital social worker “and say all the right things in order to get her and the baby discharged from the hospital.” Mother stated that she “hates all psychologists because they lock her up.”
At the hospital, mother had been “defensive, exhibiting somewhat erratic behavior, ” and had not provided staff with a home address. Mother told the hospital social worker that she and the baby planned to live with her mother (maternal grandmother) and a maternal aunt. Mother also said she had lost custody of her oldest son, age two, who was being adopted by his foster mother. The foster mother and son visited mother in the hospital, and mother appeared “sweet and appropriate” with the child. Mother also had another son who was adopted at birth.
Mother had a history of mood disorder, anxiety, oppositional defiance disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and said she had been psychiatrically hospitalized as a child for ADHD, violence, and behavioral issues. Mother denied any current mental health issues, and there was “no indication of mother wanting to hurt herself or the baby.” Mother said she suffered from postpartum depression after her two previous births. Mother had “exhibited mood lability in the hospital, acting somewhat histrionic/dramatic, somewhat attention seeking.” She denied taking medication and said she was not interested in taking any medications. Mother, age 21 at the time, “reported being pregnant 17-18 times, ” but had also reported in the last year that “she's had 15 pregnancies: 12 spontaneous abortions, 1 elected abortion, 1 preterm delivery, and 1 term delivery.”
A DCFS children's social worker (CSW) went to the hospital and interviewed a doctor, who noted that mother “has been unstable at times due to her erratic behavior in the hospital, ” including using profanity toward hospital staff. The doctor said there were “concerns due to the mother's inconsistencies, and the mother... not disclosing her history and providing inaccurate information.” The hospital psychiatric department had conducted an assessment of mother and “did not feel comfortable releasing child into mother['s] care due to her history and current dysfunctional and erratic behavior.”
The CSW interviewed mother, who became dismayed and started to cry when she realized DCFS was investigating. Mother said she was well prepared for this child, and “she decided to give her [older] children away because she was not in a healthy place at the time.” Her middle child, M., age one, was adopted at birth through a private adoption. Mother said she realized she failed the older child, S., age two, who was now better off in foster care, so mother “decided to let foster parents adopt” S. The CSW expressed concern that mother had failed to unify with S., but mother said that had been intentional.
Mother denied mental health issues and denied seeing a therapist. Then mother admitted having PTSD and said she was seeing a therapist for that, but when the CSW asked when she last saw the therapist, mother said she could not remember. When the CSW asked about mother's outbursts in the hospital, mother said, “I don't know what you're talking about.” The CSW noted, “It appeared that the mother is in denial about her mental health status, which presents a concern, as it remains unaddressed.” Mother said D.'s father was unknown.
The CSW interviewed maternal grandmother at the hospital. Maternal grandmother said mother was being penalized for her past history with DCFS, when in fact mother had voluntarily given up the older children. Maternal grandmother said she was willing to care for the baby, and she would “fight to the end” for her grandchild. Maternal grandmother “became aggressive with CSW with her tone and CSW expressed to her that the interview would be terminated if she didn't bring her tone down. Due to [maternal grandmother's] aggressive behavior, CSW had to terminate the interview.” DCFS noted that maternal grandmother also had a DCFS history involving mother.
The CSW noted mother's previous history with DCFS. In February 2016, DCFS was asked to do a welfare check on six-month-old S. A general neglect report was deemed unfounded. On March 13, 2016, mother and S.'s father were in a violent altercation at two o'clock in the morning with S. in the room. S.'s father was arrested. On March 16, 2016, a caller from a domestic violence shelter where mother was staying reported concerns about mother reporting physical abuse by S.'s father, such as throwing S. across the room, and stating, “but that's normal, right?” Mother was using clove oil to address S.'s teething pain, but when she put it in S.'s mouth, “[t]he child began to cry and scream.” Mother also purportedly went into a private room to give a suppository to S., and he was heard “screaming in pain.” When mother emerged, her “finger was brown to the middle knuckle.” When someone expressed concern about the damage she could do to the child's intestines by putting her finger in S.'s anus, mother said she “could feel something in there and wanted to get it out.” It was also reported that mother gave S. to “anyone at the shelter whether she knows them or not, and mother “frequently wakes up the director of the shelter claiming the child wants the director to hold him.”
DCFS deemed general neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse claims “substantiated” as to mother. S. was declared a dependent of the juvenile court on July 6, 2016; the petition focused only on the domestic violence between mother and S.'s father. The court sustained an allegation under section 300, subdivision (b), stating that mother and S.'s father engaged in multiple violent altercations with the child present, placing the child at risk of harm. In January 2018, family reunification services for mother were terminated. The CSW noted that a May 2018 “court report” regarding S. “expressed serious ongoing concerns regarding the mother's ability to parent.” In a psychological evaluation, mother was diagnosed with PTSD and “Unknown Substance Use Disorder, Moderate, in Sustained Remission.” A CSW working on S.'s case noted that mother was “defensive and argumentative with service providers in the presence of the child while disregarding valid input from [S.]'s primary caregiver.” Mother had attended parenting classes, but “was unable to apply the skills taught in these sessions.” Mother had “not been able to demonstrate the ability to be left alone with the child outside a structured setting.”
Following D.'s birth, she had been diagnosed with “multiple congenital anomalies, dysmorphic facial features, ” and other anomalies. She did not need special care at the time she was ready for discharge from the hospital, but she would require many follow-up appointments. The detention report stated that mother's unaddressed mental health issues and “ongoing history with DCFS” prevented her from appropriately parenting D. It also said, “Given mother's behavior in the hospital, the fact that the mother's mental health remains unaddressed and the mother is unwilling to seek psychiatric assistance, the mother's lack of cooperation and the child's young, vulnerable age and the amount of medical care that will be required due to her birth anomalies, there was concern that the mother would have [sic] the ability properly care for the child.” DCFS considered the risk for future abuse or neglect to be high, and detained D. The hospital allowed D. to stay there pending placement.
On July 26, 2018, DCFS filed a petition under section 300, subdivision (b), alleging that mother “has an extensive history of mental and emotional problems, including a diagnosis of PTSD, Mood Disorder, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, and Anxiety. The mother has a history of exhibiting paranoid and erratic...
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