In re Z.F.-G. CA4/2

California Court of Appeal·Decided September 7, 2023·No. E080883·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 9/7/23 In re Z.F.-G. CA4/2 See Concurring Opinion NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

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

In re Z.F.-G., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY E080883 CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, (Super.Ct.No. J291393)

Plaintiff and Respondent, OPINION

v.

R.F., Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Lynn M. Poncin, Judge. Reversed in part and affirmed in part.

Jill Smith, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Tom Bunton, County Counsel, and David Guardado, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

This dependency was precipitated mainly by the mother’s relationship with a drug-abusing sex offender and his domestic violence against her and her son Z.F.-G (Z. or child), but also by the mother’s own drug use and her corporal punishment of Z. Even before the dependency was filed, the mother ended the relationship. During the dependency, she successfully completed every aspect of her reunification services plan — except substance abuse treatment. She dropped out of outpatient treatment for a while and repeatedly tested “dirty” both in and out of treatment.

At the 12-month review hearing, the juvenile court found that the mother had not made significant progress in resolving the problems that led to the child’s removal. It therefore terminated reunification services. Rather than set a hearing pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26,1 it kept the child in foster care, because it found that he was not a proper subject for adoption and had no one willing to accept legal guardianship.

The mother contends:

(1) There was insufficient evidence that the mother had not made significant progress in resolving the problems that led to the child’s removal to support the termination of reunification services.

1 All further statutory citations are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(2) There was insufficient evidence that the mother was provided with reasonable reunification services, because, among other things, she requested inpatient drug treatment services but was not provided with them.

(3) The juvenile court and Children and Family Services (CFS) failed to carry out their duty to inquire of extended family members pursuant to state law implementing the Indian Child Welfare Act (25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq.) (ICWA).

We agree that there was a failure to inquire of extended family members. That means we must reverse the finding that ICWA did not apply; however, it does not require us to reverse anything else. We will hold that the mother’s failure to complete the substance abuse aspect of her reunification services plan was sufficient evidence that she had not made significant progress. We will further hold that the reunification services were reasonable, even though the mother was not provided with inpatient drug treatment services.

II

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

When this dependency was filed, Z. was 11 and living with the mother. The mother named two possible fathers, but one was dead and the other was eventually ruled out by a paternity test. The mother had two adult children: Mo.S., a daughter living nearby, and Mi.S., a son living in North Carolina.

In October 2021, CFS received reports that the mother was living with C.S., a registered sex offender, and that both of them were using drugs, including

methamphetamine. Moreover, C.S. had “laid hands” on the child. Thereafter, C.S. was arrested for being under the influence of methamphetamine, in violation of his probation.

When social workers interviewed the mother, she appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine, “with pressured speech, irritability, and twitching movements.” She claimed she had stopped using methamphetamine in 2017. However, she did not allow the social workers to conduct a walk-through of the home. She admitted currently using marijuana.

The mother said she and C.S. had broken up due to C.S.’s drug use. She admitted knowing that he was a registered sex offender. She said there had been incidents in which he had physically abused her. In 2020, she had filed for a restraining order against him, but she had “rescinded” it once he was sober and in counseling.

According to the mother, Z. once said that C.S. had hit him in the face, but he then recanted. She said that whenever Z. did not get his way, he would have “anger outbursts,” in which he would break things, punch walls, or “tak[e] the hinges off the door.” He “need[ed] constantly to move around.” He made suicidal remarks, such as that “he ‘doesn’t want to be here anymore.’”

Z. told social workers he felt unsafe because C.S. had broken windows and threatened the mother. He knew C.S. used drugs. He was worried that the mother would let C.S back in the home.

Z. reported that, a year earlier, C.S. had punched him in the face; the mother yelled at C.S., but he responded by “assault[ing]” her, too. Another time, C.S. threatened him

with a sledgehammer; again, when the mother intervened, C.S. “assaulted her.” Once, C.S. threatened to burn the house down. The mother called the police, and C.S. was arrested.

Z. said the mother disciplined him with “whoopings on the butt with a belt,” which had once caused a bruise.

Mo.S. confirmed C.S.’s drug use and domestic violence. She was concerned about Z. because he would “zone out” and “go[] blank” when under stress. He had run away twice. She thought he might have ADHD. “She reported that discipline of Z[.] includes spanking him, yelling at him, and slapping him.” She herself had recently tried to slap him.

Initially, the mother agreed to drug-test voluntarily, but later she refused to, claiming it would require missing work and she would be fired.

Accordingly, CFS detained Z. and filed a dependency petition concerning him.

He was placed first with relatives, and then in two successive foster homes.

Thereafter, the mother admitted that she had been using methamphetamine up to “the day that they took Z[.]”

In April 2022, at the jurisdictional/dispositional hearing, the juvenile court dismissed the allegations as to the absent father. Otherwise, it found that the allegations of the petition were true, and it sustained jurisdiction based on serious physical harm (§ 300, subd. (a)) and failure to protect (§ 300, subd. (b)). It ordered reunification services for the mother.

In or before October 2022, Mi.S. requested placement.

In October 2022, at the six-month review hearing, the juvenile court continued reunification services and set a 12-month review hearing. It granted authority to pursue an interstate placement with Mi.S. However, the process was delayed because the social worker mistakenly thought Mi.S. lived in South Carolina.

In February 2023, at the 12-month review hearing, the juvenile court found that the mother had been provided with reasonable services but had failed to make substantial progress in resolving the problems that led to the child’s removal. It therefore terminated reunification services. It also found that a section 366.26 hearing was not in the best interests of the child because Z. was not a proper subject for adoption and had no one willing to accept legal guardianship. (See § 366.21, subd. (g)(5).) It continued Z. in foster care and set a post-permanency review hearing.

III

THE TERMINATION OF REUNIFICATION SERVICES The mother contends that the juvenile court’s termination of reunification services was not supported by substantial evidence.

A. Additional Factual Background.

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