In re Sawyer H. CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 15, 2016
DocketD068801
StatusUnpublished

This text of In re Sawyer H. CA4/1 (In re Sawyer H. CA4/1) 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 Sawyer H. CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Filed 4/15/16 In re Sawyer H. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

In re SAWYER H., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. D068801 SAN DIEGO COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY, (Super. Ct. No. EJ3849A) Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

MICHELLE H.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Gary M.

Bubis, Judge. Affirmed.

Michelle D. Peña, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Thomas E. Montgomery, County Counsel, John E. Philips, Chief Deputy County

Counsel, and Daniela Davidian, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Neil R. Trop, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Minor. Michelle H. contends that the juvenile court's finding that she was offered or

provided reasonable family reunification services is not supported by substantial

evidence, and that she is entitled to six additional months of services. The San Diego

County Health and Human Services Agency (the Agency) asserts that this court need not

reach the merits of Michelle's arguments because the juvenile court did not have legal

authority at the six-month review hearing to terminate reunification services and select a

permanent plan of long-term foster care for Michelle's son, Sawyer H., and therefore,

reversal is required on procedural grounds. Sawyer, who became a nonminor dependent

during the course of this appeal, states that he does not wish to reunify with his mother

and asks this court to dismiss the appeal as moot under Welfare and Institutions Code

section 361.6.1

We deny Sawyer's request to dismiss the appeal as moot. While section 361.6

may apply in this case, the statutory scheme vests the decision whether to provide further

reunification services to a parent of a nonminor dependent in the juvenile court.

We reject the argument that reversal is required because the juvenile court lacked

authorization to terminate reunification services at the six-month review hearing. The

parties have forfeited the issue of whether Sawyer was a member of a sibling group, as

defined in section 361.5, subdivision (a)(1)(C), by failing to raise the issue at trial. Thus,

the juvenile court had the authority to terminate reunification services at the six-month

hearing under section 366.21, subdivision (e)(3). We agree with the Agency that the

1 Statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 2 juvenile court acted in excess of its jurisdiction when it selected a permanent plan of

another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA) for Sawyer at the six-month

hearing; however, we conclude that the error does not require reversal.

We further conclude that the Agency did not use best practices to provide

therapeutic services to Sawyer after the dispositional hearing, but that there is substantial

evidence to support the finding that reasonable family reunification services were offered

or provided to Michelle. Accordingly, we affirm the reasonable services finding.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Michelle H. is the mother of Sawyer H., who is now 18 years old, and Olivia S.,

who is now two years old.2 Sawyer does not know his father. From 2010 to 2014, the

Agency received 14 referrals alleging that Sawyer, and later, Olivia, were at substantial

risk of harm due to Michelle's mental health condition. Michelle believed that there was

a conspiracy against her family, that there were listening devices in the walls of her

home, and that her family was being stalked.

Michelle's mental health deteriorated in 2013 and 2014. She refused to allow

Sawyer to attend school or to leave home without her. During interviews with social

workers, Sawyer presented with a flat affect and displayed no emotion. When a doctor

diagnosed Sawyer with depression, Michelle accused the doctor of being part of the

conspiracy against her.

2 Olivia was also adjudicated a dependent of the juvenile court but is not a subject of this appeal. She is mentioned only where relevant to the issues on appeal. 3 During a child protective investigation in November 2014, Sawyer told a social

worker, "I do nothing, stare and sit and sleep all day." He said that he had never had any

friends. While Michelle was talking to the social worker about the conspiracy against

her, 16-year-old Sawyer came out of his bedroom, sat down next to the social worker,

and began to cry.

The Agency filed a petition under section 300 alleging that as a result of

Michelle's paranoia, Sawyer's physical and emotional health was deteriorating, and he

was at substantial risk of harm. Michelle was hospitalized for three weeks after the

detention hearing. Doctors diagnosed her condition as paranoid schizophrenia and

prescribed an antipsychotic medication for her.

The Agency detained Sawyer in a foster home. The social worker observed that

Sawyer was happy, friendly and engaged. He was doing well in a transition program to a

regular high school. When the social worker tried to set up visitation between Michelle

and Sawyer, Sawyer said that he did not want to have in-person visits with his mother

until she was more stable, but was willing to talk with Michelle by telephone twice a

week. During her telephone calls, Michelle told Sawyer that his foster family was going

to hurt him, and that the Agency and the foster family were part of the conspiracy against

her. After several weeks, Sawyer decided that Michelle's mental health condition was not

improving and he refused to talk to Michelle.

By the time of the disposition hearing in February 2015, Sawyer and Olivia were

living in separate foster care homes. The Agency did not intend to place the siblings

together in a permanent home if reunification efforts failed. Michelle's case plan required

4 her to engage in individual therapy, meet regularly with her psychiatrist, complete two

psychological evaluations, and participate in a parenting education program. The

juvenile court ordered the Agency to provide individual therapy to Sawyer, and conjoint

therapy to Sawyer and Michelle, when therapeutically appropriate.

The social worker had difficulty locating a therapist who could accommodate

Sawyer's school schedule. Shortly before the disposition hearing, the social worker

referred Sawyer to a therapist. However, Sawyer's foster parents found it difficult to

transport him to that therapist, and they had difficulty locating another therapist from the

list provided by the social worker.3 As a result, Sawyer did not begin therapy until May,

approximately three months after the disposition hearing.

Michelle participated in a psychological evaluation with Francesca Lehman,

Psy.D. Lehman diagnosed Michelle's mental health condition as Delusional Disorder,

Persecutory Type, Continuous and Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS).

Lehman considered, but did not make, a diagnosis of Paranoid Personality Disorder.

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