San Diego Cnty. Health & Human Servs. Agency v. Shauna R. (In re Cody R.)

241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 399, 30 Cal. App. 5th 381
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedDecember 17, 2018
DocketD073527; D074328
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 399 (San Diego Cnty. Health & Human Servs. Agency v. Shauna R. (In re Cody R.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
San Diego Cnty. Health & Human Servs. Agency v. Shauna R. (In re Cody R.), 241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 399, 30 Cal. App. 5th 381 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

DATO, J.

*403*383Shauna R. appeals from an order terminating parental rights to her son, Cody R., under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26.1 She contends the order terminating parental rights must be reversed because the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) did not give preferential consideration to relatives when determining Cody's placement. After considering the parties' supplemental briefing on the issue of standing, we conclude that Shauna does not have standing to appeal the order *384terminating parental rights on the ground the Agency did not give preferential placement consideration to Cody's relatives. We therefore dismiss the appeal.

Shauna has also filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus asking this court to vacate the dispositional findings and orders and the order terminating parental rights. In an affidavit, Shauna asserts that prior to the June 2017 dispositional hearing she identified several family members who wanted Cody to live with them but the social worker told her that Cody would not, and could not, be moved from his foster home. Shauna argues that in placing Cody in a concurrent planning home instead of with a relative, the social worker misstated and misapplied the law governing the relative placement preference.

After receiving an informal response from the Agency, we issued an order to show cause. The parties have filed a return and a traverse, which we have now considered along with briefing and a review of the exhibits. We conclude that a petition for writ of habeas corpus may be filed in dependency cases only in limited circumstances not present here. We therefore deny the petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Cody R., who is now five years old, is a son of Shauna R. and C.R. (together, parents). In August 2013, the Agency detained six-week-old Cody and four of his older siblings in protective custody due to severe neglect. The parents were convicted on related criminal charges of willful cruelty to a child. Shauna and C.R. regained custody of the children in January and February 2015. The juvenile court terminated jurisdiction in September 2015.

Shortly before Christmas 2016, the children's former court-appointed special advocate (CASA) visited the family, which by then included another son and an infant daughter. The CASA observed that three-year-old Cody, who had been a "chunky" baby, was severely underweight, weak and lethargic. His extremities were purple. The CASA, a former paramedic, said Cody appeared to be near death and advised the parents to take him to the emergency room.

Cody was barely responsive when he arrived at the hospital several hours later. He was significantly malnourished. At three-and-a-half, Cody weighed 21.6 pounds, which was less than he had weighed at his last doctor appointment shortly after his second birthday. Bruises and abrasions on Cody's face, back, and *404legs were concerning for nonaccidental trauma. *385During his hospitalization, Cody gained almost five pounds in less than five days. There was no other cause of failure to thrive other than malnutrition and neglect. Cody was severely neurologically delayed due to psychosocial and nutritional deprivation. Physicians characterized the parents' treatment of Cody as "essentially starvation" and advised the social worker that Cody would be at risk of death if returned home.

In foster care, Cody displayed extreme food seeking behaviors, which was "textbook behavior" for children who had been food deprived. Cody was provided services including Failure to Thrive Clinic, Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, Trauma Therapy, and developmental support services.

The Agency detained Cody's siblings in protective custody in March 2017, when Shauna and C.R. were arrested on charges of felony child cruelty and held without bail.2 Cody's baby sister was placed with him in foster care. The older siblings were very guarded when first removed from their parents. They later disclosed the parents said the entire family would go to jail if they talked about what had happened in the home.

The eldest sibling, C.R., Jr., said the parents did not feed Cody and would make him watch while the others ate. The parents locked the kitchen cabinets to prevent Cody from eating at night. C.R., Jr. explained that he and his siblings left food on the ground for Cody but the mice would eat it. Cody was so hungry he ate his feces from his diaper. He was not allowed to play with toys. He was not allowed out of the bedroom and had to stay in bed all day. C.R., Jr. said the parents made him stay home with Cody to avoid having Cody be seen in public. The three oldest children reported that the parents hit all the children, leaving marks and bruises, and encouraged them to hit each other and Cody.

On June 2, 2017, at the contested jurisdictional and disposition hearing, the juvenile court found that Cody was a child described by section 300, subdivisions (b) [neglect] and (e) [severe physical abuse of a child under five years of age]. None of the parties raised the issue of Cody's placement with a relative. The court removed Cody from the care and custody of his parents, bypassed reunification services, and set a section 366.26 hearing. The court advised the parents of their right to appeal but failed to inform them that proper review of an order setting a section 366.26 hearing was by way of writ under California Rules of Court, rule 8.452.3

*386Shauna nevertheless signed a notice of intent to file a writ petition on June 2, which was filed on June 7. After review, however, her attorney notified Shauna and this court that a writ petition under rule 8.452 would not be filed because there were no viable issues for review. This court dismissed the matter on July 10, 2017.

Cody's Placement History and Search for Relatives Interested in Placement

Cody was hospitalized from December 24 to 29, 2016. At a team decision meeting in January 2017, Shauna and C.R. said there were no relatives available to care for Cody. The parents agreed to place him *405with a nonrelative extended family member (NREFM) under a voluntary safety plan and asked the Agency to consider placing Cody with their employers and friends, the B.'s. The Agency began an evaluation of the B.'s home, but the B.'s withdrew their names from consideration for placement prior to the dispositional hearing.

The Agency filed a section 300 petition on January 20 and detained him with another NREFM. On January 27, the social worker placed Cody in a concurrent family home with his current caregivers, who had an approved adoption home study.

During Cody's hospitalization, Aunt B., who was married to Shauna's brother (Uncle N.), visited Cody while a social worker was present. Aunt B. was reluctant to get involved in Cody's case. She told the social worker she did not understand how the parents could have ignored Cody's condition. At a court hearing, Shauna confronted Aunt B.

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Bluebook (online)
241 Cal. Rptr. 3d 399, 30 Cal. App. 5th 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-diego-cnty-health-human-servs-agency-v-shauna-r-in-re-cody-r-calctapp5d-2018.