M.H. v. Superior Court of Contra Costa Cnty.

M.H. et al., Petitioners, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Respondent;CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES BUREAU, Real Party in Interest.

A154034

COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION FOUR

June 14, 2018

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

(Contra Costa County Super. Ct. No. J1700616)

M.H. (Father) and A.H. (Mother) (collectively, Parents) have both petitioned for extraordinary writs (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.452), challenging the juvenile court's orders, at a contested six-month review hearing (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.21, subd. (e)(1)),¹ terminating their reunification services and visitation and setting a section 366.26 hearing as to their now three-year-old son, E.H. (Child). We will deny the petitions on the merits.

I. BACKGROUND

A. May 17, 2017: Child Is Detained

On May 19, 2017, the Contra Costa County Children & Family Services Bureau (Bureau) filed a petition pursuant to section 300, subdivision (b)(1), reporting that it took Child, then two years old, into protective custody on May 17, 2017, after Mother was arrested for child endangerment. According to witness reports summarized in the Bureau's detention and jurisdiction report: Mother, accompanied by Child, had arrived late for an appointment at a county welfare office, argued rudely with staff and other clients, called people names, and then yelled and pounded on a door after leaving her purse in an interview room, until a sheriff's deputy escorted her from the building. While walking to her car, Mother slapped Child in the face several times with an open hand. After two women in the parking lot spoke to Mother about her behavior, Mother got into her car, pulled out of her parking space, blocked the women in their parking space, got out of her car, and approached the women in their car. A sheriff's deputy and a public safety officer intervened. Mother then returned to her vehicle, sped around the parking lot, and blocked the women's vehicle at the parking lot entrance. Child was in the car at the time, and was not restrained by a car seat or seat belt.²

The sheriff's deputy stopped and arrested Mother for child endangerment. He reported he found marijuana in Mother's car and the car smelled strongly of marijuana. When asked who could come to pick up Child, Mother suggested a neighbor, whose last name she did not know, and refused to identify anyone else. A social worker who had arrived by then, and was speaking to the sheriff's deputy in the parking lot, reportedly twice saw Mother pound on her car window, raise her middle finger, and shout at Child to say, "Fuck the police."

The Bureau reported that a social worker telephoned Father and visited his house attempting to notify him there would be a hearing on May 22, 2017, but was not able to reach him. The social worker left a letter with information and a card at Father's house, and mailed him a certified letter. But Father did not appear at the hearing.

Interviewed on May 19, 2017, after she was released from custody, Mother told social workers she did not have a history of mental health issues or drug use, only used marijuana occasionally, had not taken drugs on the day of her arrest, and had no criminal history. On being provided a copy of her criminal history, which included seven arrests (but no convictions) between October 5, 2015 and May 17, 2017—for petty theft, obstructing arrest, disorderly conduct, prostitution, shoplifting, and willful cruelty to a child—Mother reportedly became upset, raised her voice, and demanded to have Child returned to her. The social workers told Mother they wanted to refer her for mental health services, drug treatment, and parenting classes, but Mother reportedly declined, "stating she would get her own services" through her health care provider.

A social worker also interviewed Mother's mother (Maternal Grandmother) and stepfather on May 19, 2017. They advised they had concerns about Mother's mental health, that Mother suffered severe highs and lows, but that she "refuse[d] to follow through with any assistance or resources," and they did not know where she lived.

At the detention hearing on May 22, 2017, the juvenile court removed Child from parental custody, placed him in a foster home, and ordered drug and alcohol testing, substance abuse treatment, and parenting classes for Mother. On May 24, 2017, the court granted Mother one hour of professionally supervised visitation weekly, to be suspended if Mother demonstrated aggressive or erratic behavior, and appointed a guardian ad litem for her; Father did not appear.

B. June-August 2017: Jurisdictional and Dispositional Hearings

On June 7, 2017, the juvenile court held a jurisdictional hearing. Mother was present and Father also appeared. The court granted Father supervised visitation for onehour a week, referred him to the Legal Aid Society to obtain counsel, and scheduled a contested jurisdictional hearing for July 5, 2017.

On July 5, 2017, the juvenile court sustained all counts of the petition, adjudged Child to be a dependent child, raised Father's status to presumed father, granted Father unsupervised visits, and set a dispositional hearing for August 16, 2017.

The Bureau subsequently filed a disposition report recommending the juvenile court adjudge Child to be a dependent of the court and order reunification services for Parents. The report disclosed that Father had been twice arrested (in June 2016 and May 2017) for domestic battery, but had no convictions. The report also disclosed that, on June 5, 2017—two days before Father first appeared in this matter—he was served with a temporary domestic violence order, which, among other things, required him to surrender all firearms. Four days later, on June 9, 2017, the report continued, Father was stopped for speeding, while driving with a suspended license, and was arrested for unlawfully transporting a loaded firearm (a semiautomatic pistol).³ Father's car reportedly had "a strong odor of marijuana," and loose marijuana was found on the rear passenger floorboard; Father said he did not own a marijuana card. Father acknowledged he made a mistake in driving the vehicle, the Bureau reported, and said he knew he was transporting the firearm improperly.

The Bureau reported it was unable to obtain background information from Mother and Father. Mother failed to meet with the social worker for an interview on the topic and Father declined to provide such information. According to multiple providers, the Bureau reported, Mother said she was sexually abused when she was four. Maternal Grandmother told the Bureau she was not aware of any abuse. She said Mother ran awayrepeatedly as a teenager, was defiant, had problems accepting responsibility for her own actions, and blamed everyone else instead.

Father told the Bureau he and Mother raised Child together for a couple of years, and then reached an informal agreement to share custody. He declined to say anything negative about Mother's parenting, but told the Bureau he did see a drastic change in her behavior starting around March 2017, which he could only attribute to her possible abuse of prescription pills. Father maintained he did everything possible to care for Child and keep him safe. He said he let Mother take Child the day before Mother's Day and then did not hear from her until he received the Bureau's certified letter advising that Child had been detained.

The Bureau reported Father had regular unsupervised visits with Child after the jurisdictional hearing, and the visits were "going well." Father had a safe living situation, the Bureau reported, and a part-time job. Mother was enrolled in community college courses, worked part-time, and showed love for Child and a bond with him in their visits.⁴ But, the Bureau reported, Mother's visits were more problematic. Mother missed two visits and two visits were terminated early due to her behavior. Mother sometimes texted and checked social media on her cell phone rather than interacting with Child, the Bureau reported, and then became defiant, escalating her behavior, and "screaming and cursing at everyone." On one occasion, after a supervised visit, the person driving Child back to Maternal Grandmother's home noticed Mother was following them, and had to return to the visitation site until Mother departed.⁵

The Bureau reported it provided Mother a referral for therapeutic visitation with Child, to help her deescalate her behavior and have more positive visits. Motherreportedly was receiving services through her health care provider to address her chemical dependency, had been diagnosed as having anxiety and panic disorder, and had been prescribed medication.

The Bureau provided case plans for Parents that required them to undergo domestic violence assessments, complete the assessors' recommendations, complete parenting education, participate in random drug and alcohol testing, and enter a substance abuse treatment program if they missed a test or tested positive. Father's case plan also required him to engage in individual therapy. Mother's required her to complete a mental health assessment, sign necessary releases, and follow all recommendations resulting from the assessment.

At the August 16, 2017 dispositional hearing, the juvenile court continued the matter to August 30, 2017 for a contest, and suspended Father's unsupervised visitation. On August 30, 2017, after the court made some changes to the recommended case plan, Parents accepted the modified plan. The court adjudged Child to be a dependent child, adopted the plan as modified, ordered supervised therapeutic visitation for Mother,...