In re J.G. CA4/1

Filed 8/2/24 In re J.G. CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 J.G., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

D083684 IMPERIAL COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, (Super. Ct. No. JJP001344)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

K.G.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Imperial County, Marco D. Nuñez, Judge. Dismissed. Megan Turkat Schirn, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Eric R. Havens, County Counsel, Mistelle Abdelmagied, Assistant County Counsel, Kelly Ranasinghe and Wendy Miller, Deputies County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

K.G. (Mother) filed this appeal following the removal of her 14-year-old son, J.G. (Child), from her custody after a contested disposition hearing. At a subsequent hearing, the juvenile court returned Child to Mother’s custody. As Mother now agrees, this appeal is moot because the juvenile court has already granted the only relief she sought. We decline to exercise our discretionary authority to consider the appeal and instead dismiss. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Events Leading to the Appeal On December 1, 2023, the Imperial County Department of Social Services (the Department) took Child into protective custody after Mother suffered a mental health episode that left her unresponsive and on a

psychiatric hold under Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 5150. The alleged father’s whereabouts remained unknown after reasonable efforts by the Department to locate him. Thus, the incident left Child without a caregiver. On December 5, 2023, the Department filed a juvenile dependency petition on behalf of Child under section 300, subdivisions (b)(1) and (g). The following day, the juvenile court held a detention hearing. The court found that the Department had made a prima facie showing on the petition supporting continued removal of Child from Mother’s custody. On January 29, 2024, the court held a jurisdiction hearing and made a true finding on the petition. The court then held a contested disposition hearing on February 23, 2024, concluding the Department made reasonable efforts to prevent removal and return Child home and placement with Mother would be detrimental to him under section 361, subdivision (c).