In re K.B.

California Court of Appeal·Decided August 24, 2015·No. E061803·Published

Opinion

Filed 8/7/15 Modified and Cert. for Partial Pub. 8/24/15 (order attached)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION TWO

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

RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES, E061803

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super.Ct.No. RIJ1400250)

v. OPINION K.B., Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Tamara L. Wagner, Temporary Judge. (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, § 21.) Affirmed.

Stephanie M. Davis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Gregory P. Priamos, County Counsel, and Julie Koons Jarvi, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Roni Keller, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Respondent K.D.1 Defendant and appellant K.B. (mother) appeals from the trial court’s order placing her youngest son, X.B., with his nonoffending and noncustodial biological father, K.D. (father), who lives out of state. She argues that the court erred by failing to find under Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.2, subdivision (a),2 that it would be detrimental to X.B.’s emotional well-being to be separated from his maternal family. Mother requests that X.B. be placed with his older sibling, K.B., in the home of his maternal grandmother. She also argues that the court failed to give proper notice under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). We affirm the judgment.

I

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Detention and Jurisdiction Six-year-old X.B. and his 12-year-old brother, K.B., have different fathers. Prior to detention, the boys lived with mother and her boyfriend in Riverside. The boys came to the attention of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (the Department) after it was reported that mother had been physically abusing K.B. The

1 At the recommendation of plaintiff and respondent Riverside County Department of Public Social Services and by order of this court dated March 4, 2015, we directed Appellate Defenders, Inc. to appoint counsel for respondent father K.D. Father subsequently filed a respondent’s brief.

2 All further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated.

Department placed the boys in the home of the maternal grandmother, who also lives in Riverside.

The dependency petition alleged that mother had beat K.B. with a belt causing welts and bruises to his chest, shoulder, arms, and legs, and that she pushed K.B.’s head into a pillow to muffle his screams, causing him to feel as if he were suffocating. The petition alleged that mother had a history of using inappropriate discipline techniques on the boys, such as beating them with belts, humiliating K.B. in public, and forcing K.B. to complete strenuous exercise routines as punishment. It also alleged that mother allowed her live-in boyfriend to inappropriately punish K.B. and to smoke marijuana in the children’s presence.

During the course of its investigation, the Department learned that X.B. was in contact with his biological father, K.D., who was in the Air Force and stationed in Italy. X.B. told the social worker that he talked to father through social media and by telephone. The social worker interviewed father over the telephone while he was in Italy. Father was a staff sergeant. He had joined the Air Force immediately after graduating from high school and had served there for the past 15 years. During his 15-year service, father had worked as a medic and had completed college courses. He planned to retire in the next few months. He did not have a substance abuse or criminal history. He paid mother $748 a month in child support for X.B. He reported that he had phone calls and

Face Time/Skype sessions with the boys. He had no idea that mother had been physically abusing them or that her boyfriend was smoking marijuana in their presence.

Father expressed a desire to become a bigger part of X.B.’s life and was strongly considering shared custody. He participated in the development and implementation of the case plan. He called the boys at the maternal grandmother’s home twice a week to check on them. The maternal grandmother warned him not to split the boys up by seeking full custody of X.B.

At the jurisdiction hearing on April 28, 2014, mother submitted on the petition and waived her right to trial. The court sustained the allegations against mother. It found that K.B. was a dependent of the juvenile court under section 300, subdivisions (a), (b), and (g), and that X.B. was a dependent under section 300, subdivisions (b) and (j). It also found that father was a nonoffending parent. Father requested that X.B. be placed with him, and the trial court ordered the Department to file an addendum report regarding placement with father.

On May 12, 2014, the social worker spoke with father and his wife, who is also in the Air Force. The couple was happy to hear that the court was considering placing X.B. with them. They were raising two children together, and X.B. was welcome to be a part of their family. They had a room ready for X.B. in their home in Springfield, Virginia. Father would be stationed out of the United States until June 2014. His plan was to retire so that he could spend more time with his children, including X.B. He suggested that

X.B. might be transitioned to their home through visitation so that he could get to know his father and acclimate to their home environment and parenting style.

X.B. reported to the social worker that he liked talking with his father and wanted to speak with him every day. His first preference was to return to mother’s home, but if he could not live with her, he wanted to try living with father.

On May 19, 2014, the court ordered unsupervised visitation for father with X.B.

and K.B., including via the Internet through Skype/Face Time. On June 17, 2014, father returned to the United States from active duty in Italy. The social worker went on vacation from June 20 to 30, and did not speak with father until July 2. In an addendum report, the social worker stated that father “declined visitation with his son at this time.” He reported that father told him he needed to “create a healthy environment for [X.B.]” by “working on his marriage” and obtaining employment with his brother’s company. The Department recommended that the boys remain placed with the maternal grandmother and that mother and father be given reunification services.

1. Disposition

At the disposition hearing on July 16, 2014, the court heard testimony on the issue of whether X.B. would suffer detriment under section 361.2, subdivision (a), if he were placed with father. Father testified that he wanted X.B. placed with him and that he had been consistent in wanting placement. He explained that he was currently separated from his wife, but they were working on their marriage. During the separation, he lived with

his parents in Greensboro, North Carolina, and visited his wife and their children in Springfield, Virginia on the weekends. He and his wife have one child together, a four- year-old girl. His wife also has an 11-year-old son who calls father “Dad.”

Father testified that he was ready to take on the role of X.B.’s full-time father.

Whether he reconciled with his wife or not, he had a stable place for X.B. to live. The home he shared with his wife in Springfield had already been positively evaluated for placement by X.B.’s investigator. There was a room in father’s parents’ house for X.B., and there was an elementary school nearby in Greensboro that X.B. could attend. He and X.B. could live with the paternal grandparents indefinitely, until they were ready to move back to Springfield or elsewhere. Father was looking for a job, but in the meantime he was receiving an income through Air Force retirement benefits.

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