In re C.B. CA1/3

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 11, 2022
DocketA162229
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re C.B. CA1/3 (In re C.B. CA1/3) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re C.B. CA1/3, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 4/11/22 In re C.B. CA1/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re C.B. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. SAN FRANCISCO HUMAN A162229, A162585 SERVICES AGENCY, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (San Francisco City & County NEIL B. et al., Super. Ct. Nos. JD203044, JD203045) Defendants and Appellants.

In his appeal from the juvenile court’s jurisdictional and dispositional orders, Neil B. (father) raises several claims of error. We affirm.1 BACKGROUND C.B. (child) was born in September 2019. Three months later, the child “was hospitalized because he was under weight and . . . was having seizures.” In early February 2020, the San Francisco Human Services Agency (Agency) filed a petition alleging the child came within Welfare and Institutions Code

C.C. (mother) has also appealed from these orders, but she joins 1

father’s briefing and does not raise any appellate issues of her own. We mention only those facts necessary to address the issues raised by father.

1 section 300, subdivision (b) (undesignated statutory references are to this code) because he had been diagnosed with “failure to thrive due to insufficient nutrition,” and mother had missed the child’s medical appointments and declined assistance from a public health nurse. The petition further alleged mother’s mental health issues impaired her ability to care for the child and that her home presented a safety hazard. Finally, the petition averred father — the child’s alleged father — failed to meet the child’s medical needs as he did not “intervene or act protectively” after a medical social worker told him about “the concerns for the [child’s] care.” According to the detention report, father acknowledged the Agency made him “aware of the concerns for [the child’s] care.” He also told the Agency he had seen the child only “a few times since he was born.” Father expressed a desire to “be of more support moving forward,” but also “wanted to give . . . mother a chance to parent.” Father declined the Agency’s suggestion to seek custodial rights in family court; he did “not want to be involved with the court system.” The Agency referred mother’s relatives for placement and worked to attain approvals to place the child with those relatives. Father did not attend the February 2020 detention hearing, despite receiving notice of it. His mother (grandmother) attended the hearing, as did mother and her relatives. At the hearing, the juvenile court detained the child and placed him in foster care. The court deemed father’s nonappearance “willful” and declined to award him visitation. It held a second hearing in late February to give father an opportunity to appear, but father did not do so. The court scheduled a settlement hearing for April 2020 and a combined hearing on jurisdiction and disposition for May; the court

2 mailed father written notice of both hearing dates and a copy of the dependency petition. At the April 2020 hearing, the juvenile court appointed counsel for father. Thereafter, father completed a voluntary declaration of paternity. On May 6, 2020 — the date scheduled for the jurisdiction and disposition hearing — the parties jointly agreed to continue the matter to August. The court continued the matter; it also elevated father’s status to presumed father and ordered supervised visitation. When the parties appeared for the August 2020 hearing on jurisdiction and disposition, counsel for mother requested a continuance. Father’s counsel had “[n]o objection.” The juvenile court continued the hearing to December 7, 2020, the first available court date. But when the parties appeared in December, mother’s counsel requested another continuance as she had not been able to discuss the case “in depth” with her client. The other parties expressed concerns about the delay but did not object. The court continued the hearing to January 2021. In various reports, the Agency noted father suffered from mental health issues as a child. He began smoking marijuana at age 12 and drinking at age 17. As an adult, father drank alcohol “excessively” to the point where it interfered with “his daily routines.” Father, however, told the Agency he had stopped “drinking excessively.” He was on probation in Yuba County for a domestic violence conviction and had “pending charges” in Yolo County. Father lived with grandmother; he was her “In Home Care Provider.” Father had found employment. The Agency recommended father participate in individual therapy, undergo a substance abuse assessment, complete four consecutive negative drug tests, attend parenting classes, and obtain stable housing. The Agency

3 provided father with the relevant referrals and reminded him to visit the child consistently and “engage in his services.” Father’s visitation with the child was conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Father did not visit the child consistently and, during one virtual visit, the Agency reported that he appeared to be “taking shots” of alcohol. Father had two brief virtual visits in June 2020, but he often asked to delay visits and “would go for weeks without responding to the [Agency’s] phone calls.” He missed four of six virtual visits in September, and he did not attend any virtual visits in December. When in-person visitation was offered, father attended those visits more consistently. The child had lived in the same foster home since February 2020 and was “doing well” there. The juvenile court held a combined hearing on jurisdiction and disposition over two days in early 2021. On the first day of the hearing in January 2021, a social worker testified father was informed of the child’s failure-to-thrive diagnosis in February 2020. Another social worker described father’s progress on his case plan: father was working, but he was not drug testing and had not begun his year-long domestic violence class, both of which were conditions of his probation. The social worker explained that it was essential for the child, who was 15 months old, to have a “safe and sober adult present to meet his needs” and — given the child’s previous medical issues — to “follow the instructions of any medical provider.” At the conclusion of that day’s hearing, counsel for father asked the Agency to assess “father’s home and . . . grandmother” for placement. In response, the Agency stated it had “put in a referral” for grandmother to be assessed. The juvenile court continued the hearing to March. In an addendum report filed before the second day of the hearing, the Agency noted it had begun the “Resource Family Approval” (RFA) process for

4 grandmother, but in order for grandmother to be approved for placement, father would need to move out of the house as he was not on the lease. The Agency also reported that father had missed three consecutive visits spanning January and February 2021 and had not begun drug testing or attending domestic violence classes. Nor had father followed up with a therapy referral provided by the Agency.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. L.T.
214 Cal. App. 4th 1154 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)
Alameda County Social Services Agency v. T.B.
215 Cal. App. 4th 1 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)
San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. B.T.
217 Cal. App. 4th 1492 (California Court of Appeal, 2013)
In Re Stephanie M.
867 P.2d 706 (California Supreme Court, 1994)
Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services v. Richard H.
234 Cal. App. 3d 1351 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
In Re Rodger H.
228 Cal. App. 3d 1174 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
In Re Misako R.
2 Cal. App. 4th 538 (California Court of Appeal, 1991)
In Re Dakota S.
102 Cal. Rptr. 2d 196 (California Court of Appeal, 2000)
In Re Luke M.
132 Cal. Rptr. 2d 907 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Joseph T.
163 Cal. App. 4th 787 (California Court of Appeal, 2008)
In Re Paul H.
5 Cal. Rptr. 3d 1 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
In Re Marcos G.
182 Cal. App. 4th 369 (California Court of Appeal, 2010)
In Re Angelique C.
6 Cal. Rptr. 3d 395 (California Court of Appeal, 2003)
San Joaquin County Department of Human Services v. Gary L.
21 Cal. App. 4th 1057 (California Court of Appeal, 1993)
In Re Kobe A.
53 Cal. Rptr. 3d 437 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
In Re Kevin S.
41 Cal. App. 4th 882 (California Court of Appeal, 1996)
San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Y.Z.
227 Cal. App. 4th 1180 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Christian D.
230 Cal. App. 4th 292 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. M.C.
233 Cal. App. 4th 1 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Robert M.
232 Cal. App. 4th 1394 (California Court of Appeal, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
In re C.B. CA1/3, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-cb-ca13-calctapp-2022.