In re William B.

• Decision Date: 14 May 2008
• Docket Number: No. G039351.,G039351.
• Citation: 78 Cal. Rptr. 3d 91,163 Cal.App.4th 1220
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: In re WILLIAM B. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. RICHARD B., Defendant and Appellant; C.C., Defendant and Respondent; WILLIAM B. et al., Appellants.

163 Cal.App.4th 1220

78 Cal. Rptr. 3d 91

In re WILLIAM B. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

ORANGE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. RICHARD B., Defendant and Appellant;

C.C., Defendant and Respondent;

WILLIAM B. et al., Appellants.

No. G039351.

Court of Appeals of California, Fourth District, Division Three.

May 14, 2008.

[163 Cal.App.4th 1222]

Benjamin P. de Mayo, County Counsel, Karen L. Christensen and Aurelio Torre, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

William D. Caldwell, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Richard B.

Linda Rehm, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Respondent C.C.

Leslie A. Barry, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Minors and for Appellants, William B. and Noah B.

[163 Cal.App.4th 1223]

OPINION

SILLS, P. J.

Nine-year-old William and five-year-old Noah were removed from their parents' custody for the third time in March 2007. Because the previous dependency proceedings had been terminated, the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) filed a new petition based on the children's abuse and neglect due to the parents' long-standing drug use and recommended denying the parents reunification services. The juvenile court denied services to the father, but, notwithstanding the "staggering amount" of services previously offered to the mother, it gave her "one more chance" and ordered services.

Three times is enough. The juvenile court improperly focused on the children's love for their mother rather than any realistic chance they would find permanency and stability with her. We find the order providing services to the mother was an abuse of discretion and reverse it. We affirm the order denying services to the father.

FACTS

C.C. and Richard B., parents of William and Noah, met in a recovery home in 1996. Both have a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. The mother was previously married to Bill S., with whom she had two daughters, Melissa and Megan. They divorced in 1994, and the girls initially remained with the mother. Subsequently, the girls were removed from the mother's custody and declared dependents of the juvenile court due to her drunkenness and child endangerment. The girls were released to their father, and their dependency was terminated a year later.

William and Noah were first removed from their parents in November 2001 when Noah was born with a positive toxicology screen for methamphetamine. They were placed with Laurie and Dan J. in February 2002. After eight months of reunification services, the boys were returned to their parents' care under a plan of family maintenance in August 2002. The family struggled with housing and employment, and the mother continued to resist drug abuse treatment. In June 2003, the mother was arrested for drug use and possession of paraphernalia and for failure to use child safety seats. The juvenile court ordered the mother to live apart from the rest of the family and the boys were placed with the father with continued family maintenance services.

This situation continued for almost a year. Then, in May 2004, the parents were arrested for burglary. Together in violation of the court order, the mother had been using drugs and the father had been abusing alcohol. The juvenile court sustained a supplemental petition, removed the boys from parental custody, and provided further reunification services to the parents. The boys were again placed in the home of Laurie and Dan J., who expressed an interest in adopting them if necessary. They remained there for almost 18 months, while the parents made steady progress on their case plans. In January 2006, the juvenile court placed the boys back in the parents' custody with family maintenance services; in August 2006, the court terminated dependency proceedings.

Six months later, the parents were arrested for being under the influence of drugs and having drugs and paraphernalia within reach of the children. The parents were incarcerated, and the children were taken in by their maternal grandparents. The maternal grandparents were unable to care for the children on a long-term basis, however, so SSA detained them in March 2007 and again placed them with Dan and Laurie J.

The mother admitted she and the father started using drugs again sometime between November 2006 and January 2007. She stated she was aware that her drug and alcohol addiction was an illness. William told the social worker he "knew about `alcohol, crystal meth, meth and pot.'" He was able to describe his father "doing drugs" with a glass pipe and a lighter. "`They either use a match, a lighter or sometimes the stove.'" Both children reported many strange people coming in and out of their home, sometimes living there for awhile. Both children also reported domestic violence between the mother and the father. They were both afraid of the father, and William's first priority was to get his father out of his life. William stated, "`I protect mom and Noah[,] that's my job.'"

SSA filed a new petition alleging neglect, abandonment, and sibling abuse. Social worker Valerie Butler recommended the denial of reunification services based on the parents' failed substance abuse treatment history. Butler noted since 1994, the mother had made six attempts at sobriety by enrolling in treatment programs. The father had completed three drug treatment programs since 2001, "but failed to practice his 12-step[]s with[]out direct supervision[,] leading to his relapse."

The jurisdiction and disposition hearing was continued repeatedly until July 2007. The court heard testimony from the parents and Butler; on August 9, it sustained the petition and declared the children to be dependents of the court. The disposition phase began a few days later with William and Noah's testimony in chambers. William, who was almost 10 at that time, testified things were good when he and Noah were returned to the parents a year ago, "[b]ut things just got worse and worse and worse until the day my grandparents picked me up and told me what happened." He described how his parents became lazier and lazier, often sleeping in and forgetting to wake him up for school and church. His mother stopped cooking and doing laundry. Groups of people came in and out of the house, sometimes fighting and yelling. The father often got angry. Once, he pulled the mother's hair and knocked her down. Another time, the father hit a cupboard door so hard it fell off its hinges and struck William on the back and shoulders, hurting him.

William liked living with Dan and Laurie. There were "lots of fun animals to play with," and he liked the country better than the city. When asked if he would want to live with his parents again, he feared it would be "like an out-of-order candy dispenser." He explained that living at home was "just out of order. Nothing worked." He wanted to stay living with Dan and Laurie for "right now," but he did not know whether he wanted to stay there. "It's just that my real parents, they're my real parents; and [Dan and Laurie], I've been with them awhile, and it's not out of order like it is at my parents' house." Dan and Laurie took him to school and church on time, made sure he had clean clothes, food and water, and made him feel comfortable and safe.

William told the court he loved his mom and loved to see her, but he repeatedly stopped short of saying he wanted to live with her. "I told you, I don't know because I'm just afraid that things will go out of order." If his father were out of the picture, "things wouldn't be as out of order. Things would be better. [But] I still don't know if my mom would do good." The mother's counsel asked, "[W]ould you want to live with your mom if she was in a house [rather than an apartment] with a garden and arena and stars and fresh air [like where Dan and Laurie lived]?" William answered, "I told you I do not know because I'm just afraid of things to go back to the same way."

Noah was five years nine months old at the time of his testimony. He agreed that he liked living at Laurie and Dan's, he felt safe there and wanted to stay living there "for now." When asked if he remembered living with his parents, he stated, "I don't want to talk about it" because it was "scary." He explained some of the scary things: William told him about the incident when the father pulled the mother's hair and knocked her down. William also told him his father took drugs in the glass pipe. Noah was present when William got hit with the cupboard door; he described his father getting so angry "that he slapped the cupboard door ..., and it got [William]." The two boys and the mother went "into our mom's room" because "that's where it's most safe." Noah said he saw his father hit his mother on at least one occasion. "My dad was getting all stressed out, then he smacked [the mother]." Noah described his dad as "really, really mean" and "evil" and attributed all their problems to him. He said he hated his father and did not want to see him. Noah testified he loved his mom and liked to have visits with her. He agreed he would like to live with her and William, but not with the father.

The juvenile court found by clear and convincing evidence that both parents had a history of chronic drug use and had resisted court-ordered treatment for the problem during the three-year period preceding the filing of the petition. It then considered whether there was clear and convincing evidence that offering reunification services to the parents would be in the best interests of the children. The court pointed out that the boys were afraid of the father and there was no bonding with him. It found it was not in their best interests to offer him reunification services and ordered no visits between the father and the children.

The court did not want to terminate services to the mother, however, because the boys had both testified they loved...