Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. John D.

104 Cal. App. 4th 470, 2002 Daily Journal DAR 14205, 128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 270, 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 12095, 2002 Cal. App. LEXIS 5173
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 17, 2002
DocketNo. B156096
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 104 Cal. App. 4th 470 (Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. John D.) 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
Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. John D., 104 Cal. App. 4th 470, 2002 Daily Journal DAR 14205, 128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 270, 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 12095, 2002 Cal. App. LEXIS 5173 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

Opinion

TURNER, P. J.

I. Introduction

John D. (the father) challenges juvenile court jurisdictional and dispositional orders finding his children, James C. (bom July 1995) and S.D. (bom [474]*474May 1997), dependents of the court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300, subdivisions (b) and (g). The father contends the jurisdictional order should be reversed. The father argues the allegations of the petition were insufficient to support a jurisdictional determination based on his incarceration and there is no substantial evidence to support the findings. We conclude that the father has waived the right to challenge the sufficiency of the juvenile court petition allegations; nonetheless, the allegations were sufficient to confer jurisdiction on the juvenile court; and substantial evidence supports the jurisdictional and dispositional findings. Accordingly, the juvenile court orders are affirmed.

II. Background

James and S.D., along with their half siblings, Angel A. (bom September 1999) and Victoria A. (bom November 2000), came to the court’s attention on June 20, 2001, when the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (the department) filed a section 300 petition on their behalf. John D. is not the father of Angel and Victoria, who are not the subjects of this appeal. The petition alleged that the mother of all four children had created a detrimental home environment for the children in that, on or about June 15, 2001, and prior occasions, the family residence was found in a filthy and unsafe condition. The conditions included: a nonfimctioning toilet with feces and urine on the floor; flea and scabies infestation; a filthy carpet; clutter to such a degree that entering and leaving the residence was difficult; the backyard was overgrown with flammable dry shrubbery and old paper; and the backyard was littered with beer cans, old toys, and bicycles. It was alleged that the mother’s conduct endangered the children’s physical and emotional health and safety and placed them at risk of physical and emotional harm and damage. It was further alleged: the children were found in a filthy and unkempt condition including six-month-old Victoria who had a severe diaper rash and dirt around her neck and under her fingernails; the mother knowingly allowed a registered sex offender, the children’s maternal stepgrandfather, Claude N., to reside in the home; Claude N. had unmonitored access to the children; five-year-old James was allowed to wander in the street and alley without adult supervision; and James and S.D. had been returned to the home by law enforcement for wandering outside the residence without adult supervision.

The detention report stated the case social worker received a referral concerning the family on May 10, 2001. The referral stated in part that: the [475]*475children were neglected by the mother; “the house is horrible as it is a pig house”; the house was full of scabies because feces and urine were all over the toilet, which was not flowing properly; there were feces all over the house; Mr. N. was a convicted felon who had two guns including a loaded firearm which was in the proximity of the children; and the children roamed around the neighborhood unsupervised. The reporting party had called the health and fire departments and other local agencies but none had responded to help the children.

The social worker spoke with the mother on May 15, 2001. The mother admitted the family had scabies. However, the mother claimed that James had caught scabies at school. The social worker observed that: the home was unclean and unkempt; the rooms were very cluttered so that the social worker was unable to walk inside; and the carpet was very soiled. The mother cared for the elderly maternal great-grandmother who had recently had a stroke and was hospitalized. The mother said that relatives had made the report of unkempt conditions in the residence to the authorities in order to gain control of the great-grandmother’s home.

The maternal grandmother admitted that the family had scabies but had been treated by a doctor. She also stated that James brought the scabies home from school. The maternal grandmother had two children who also lived in the home. The two children were ages 11 and 12 at the time the June 20, 2001, detention report was prepared. The mother and the maternal grandmother attributed the feces on the restroom floor to the maternal great-grandmother who was ill and would “miss the toilet” because of severe arthritis. Both the mother and maternal grandmother denied that there were weapons in the residence and the children roamed around unsupervised.

The maternal stepgrandfather, Claude N., admitted he was a convicted felon who was on probation for failing to register as a sex offender. (Pen. Code, § 290.) Claude N. stated that his probation conditions were such that he could be around children as long as someone in the home was over 18 years old. Claude N.’s probation officer, identified only as Ms. H. Lewis, stated that there was nothing in the minute order that he could not be around children. On June 13, 2001, the social worker spoke with Ms. Lewis regarding the probationary grant. Ms. Lewis stated that she had no knowledge that children were living in the home. Ms. Lewis was told that the mother did not live in the home and the children were cared for in Claude N.’s residence. On June 5, 2001, the mother told a social worker that to avoid the removal of the children from the home because of the risk from a registered sex offender, Claude N. would leave. However, on June 15, 2001, the social worker found Claude N. sleeping in one of the rooms. The [476]*476children were then detained. Prior to the June 15, 2001, detention, the social worker observed James roaming unsupervised in the alley and down the street several times while the mother, the maternal grandmother, and the maternal stepgrandfather were at home.

James denied that anyone had sexually abused him. James had several bad front teeth. Relatives stated that James, who was five years old, threatened to take a gun and kill his great-grandmother and then stab her with a knife until she died. James had no contact with the father, who was incarcerated.

As noted above, on June 20, 2001, the department filed a petition alleging the children were persons described by section 300, subdivision (b). The petition alleged that detention was necessary because the mother’s conduct created a detrimental home environment due to: the unsanitary and unsafe condition of the residence; the children were unkempt and dirty; the maternal stepgrandfather, a registered sex offender, was allowed to live in the home; and the children were allowed to wander around the neighborhood unsupervised. There were no allegations about the father in the June 20, 2001, petition. On June 20, 2001, the juvenile court ordered the children detained. The department was ordered to conduct a due diligence search for the father.

On June 29, 2001, the department reported the children remained in foster care. The department reported on the condition of the mother’s home. The mother had made some improvements in cleaning the home. However, the home was still cluttered to such an extent that the social worker could not enter the room the children had lived in before they were detained. The backyard was piled with debris that the State Department of Health Services had ordered the mother to eliminate.

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Related

In Re James C.
128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 270 (California Court of Appeal, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
104 Cal. App. 4th 470, 2002 Daily Journal DAR 14205, 128 Cal. Rptr. 2d 270, 2002 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 12095, 2002 Cal. App. LEXIS 5173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/los-angeles-county-department-of-children-family-services-v-john-d-calctapp-2002.