In re Kadence P.

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 9, 2015
DocketB262787
StatusPublished

This text of In re Kadence P. (In re Kadence P.) 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 Kadence P., (Cal. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Filed 11/9/15 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SEVEN

In re KADENCE P., a Person Coming B262787 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. DK05991) LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

SHAHIDA R. et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, Valerie Skeba, Juvenile Court Referee. Conditionally affirmed. Anne E. Fragasso, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Shahida R. Jesse McGowan, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant Robert P. Mary C. Wickham, Interim County Counsel, Dawyn R. Harrison, Assistant County Counsel, and Kim Nemoy, Principal Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________ Shahida R. and Robert P. appeal from the jurisdiction findings and disposition order declaring their infant daughter, Kadence P., a dependent of the juvenile court and removing her from their custody after the court sustained an amended petition pursuant to 1 Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 alleging Shahida had untreated mental and emotional problems, a history of substance abuse and currently abused methamphetamine and marijuana, all of which rendered her incapable of providing regular care for Kadence; and Robert’s recent violent assault of a female companion placed Kadence at risk of physical harm. Shahida contends the jurisdiction findings are not supported by substantial evidence. In addition, both Shahida and Robert contend the juvenile court failed to comply with the requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) (25 U.S.C. § 1900 et seq.) and join in each other’s arguments directed to that issue on appeal. We remand the matter to allow the juvenile court to comply with ICWA and otherwise conditionally affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1 Predetention Efforts To Avoid Intervention In August 2014 the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) received a referral that Shahida was abusing illicit drugs when four-month-old Kadence was in her custody and had been inconsistent in taking the medication prescribed for her diagnosed bipolar disorder and anxiety. A Department social worker went to Shahida’s home in Palmdale to investigate, but the apartment was empty; neighbors explained Shahida and Kadence had recently, and abruptly, moved. The Department finally located Shahida and Kadence in Nevada, where Shahida explained she had gone to meet the social worker assigned to her older children’s 2 dependency case, filed in Washoe County, Nevada in June 2012. Shahida told the

1 Statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated. 2 Shahida’s older children were removed from her custody on June 22, 2012 after the Washoe County Juvenile Court sustained allegations in a petition by the Washoe County Department of Social Services that Shahida, among other things, abused illicit

2 Department she had been clean and sober for more than two and one-half years and was in the process of reunifying with her older children, who had been placed with Shahida’s sister in Los Angeles County in accordance with a Nevada juvenile court case plan. Shahida’s social worker in Nevada confirmed Shahida had been compliant with her case plan during her pregnancy with Kadence and for several weeks after Kadence’s birth, but appeared recently to have relapsed. She had not appeared at several drug tests, and the one time she did test the results were inconclusive due to a diluted sample. Shahida’s sister similarly told the Department that Shahida appeared recently to be under the influence of illicit drugs when she visited the children. Shahida denied using any drugs other than her prescribed medication for anxiety and depression. At the Department’s request, on September 3, 2014 Shahida agreed to submit to a drug test; but staff at the testing center observed Shahida with some type of device and, as a result, deemed her test invalid. Shahida denied bringing a device with her. When asked by the staff at the testing center and the Department to retake the test, she became angry and refused. On September 23, 2014 Shahida brought Kadence to meet with Department social worker, who observed Kadence to be overall in good health. Afterward, however, Shahida failed to respond to the Department’s multiple efforts to contact her to arrange for a team decisionmaking meeting and further drug testing. 2. The Dependency Petition On October 27, 2014 the Department filed a petition under section 300 alleging Shahida had a long history of substance abuse, was a current abuser of methamphetamine and marijuana and her substance abuse had led to the removal of her three older children in ongoing dependency proceedings in Washoe County, Nevada. The petition also alleged that Shahida suffered from diagnosed and only intermittently treated bipolar disorder and anxiety and her emotional instability and substance abuse rendered her incapable of providing regular care for then six-month-old Kadence. A first amended

drugs and failed to obtain treatment for her mental health issues, placing her children at risk of harm.

3 petition, filed December 18, 2014, added the allegation that Robert had been arrested on October 17, 2014 for assaulting his female companion and brandishing a firearm, violent conduct that placed Kadence at risk of physical harm. Neither Shahida nor Robert appeared at the initial detention hearing. After concluding the Department had made a prima facie showing that Kadence was a person described by section 300, the court issued an arrest warrant for Shahida and a protective custody warrant for Kadence and ordered Kadence detained as soon as she was found. Shahida and Kadence were located in December 2014, and Kadence was immediately detained and placed with her paternal aunt. 3. The Jurisdiction and Disposition Hearings At the March 10, 2015 jurisdiction hearing the Department presented evidence of Shahida’s long history of substance abuse, the ongoing dependency proceedings in Nevada and her predetention failures to drug test. In addition, Shahida had failed to appear for multiple drug tests, including court-ordered tests, between December 2014 and March 2015 despite the court’s and the Department’s efforts to provide convenient test locations. The Department also reported that Shahida had appeared at a testing facility in Nevada in December 2014 in connection with her on-going dependency proceedings for her older children, but walked out after being told the test would be conducted using an oral swab, explaining she was not prepared to take that type of test. Shahida did appear at a testing facility in Tarzana on March 2, 2015 demanding to drug test, but, to her frustration, she was turned away. Social workers explained to her that random drug tests, by nature, cannot be scheduled at the election of the person required to test. At the time of the jurisdiction hearing, Shahida had failed to take a single drug test since the Department became involved in the case. The Department also reported that the juvenile court in Nevada had terminated reunification services due to Shahida’s noncompliance with the case plan. As to the allegations of her emotional instability, Shahida acknowledged to social workers she suffered from anxiety and depression, but denied it was untreated. She was under the care of a psychiatrist in Nevada who was treating her condition with

4 medication.

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Bluebook (online)
In re Kadence P., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-kadence-p-calctapp-2015.