In re A.O. CA2/2

California Court of Appeal Mar 25, 2026 No. B349018Unpublished

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Holding. The juvenile court's finding that the child was likely to be adopted was supported by substantial evidence, notwithstanding the absence of a formal adoption assessment report, because the record established that the prospective adoptive parents were willing and able to adopt the child.

Issues

Whether the juvenile court erred in finding the child adoptable in the absence of a formal adoption assessment report.
Whether the record contained sufficient evidence to support the finding that the child was likely to be adopted within a reasonable time.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“When there is a prospective adoptive home in which the child is already living, and the only indications are that the child will be adopted into that home, adoptability is established.”

“The record reveals no legal impediment to A.O.’s adoption and shows that the caretakers are willing and able to meet her needs.”

“Substantial evidence in the record supports the juvenile court’s finding that A.O. was likely to be adopted within a reasonable time.”

Filed 3/25/26 In re A.O. CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

In re A.O., a Person Coming B349018 Under the Juvenile Court Law.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF Super. Ct. No. CHILDREN AND FAMILY 22CCJP03402B) SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

J.L. et al.,

Defendants and Appellants.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Tara L. Newman, Judge. Affirmed. Johanna R. Shargel, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant J.L.

William Hook, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant D.O. Dawyn R. Harrison, County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant County Counsel, and Eden Gharapet, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. __________________________________________

J.L. (mother) and D.O. (father) appeal from the termination of their parental rights to their daughter A.O., arguing that the juvenile court erred in finding her adoptable. Substantial evidence supports this finding, so we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Mother and father share a daughter, A.O. (born April 2023), and mother has a son, D.S. (born December 2021), with a different father. On August 27, 2022, D.S. was hospitalized, unresponsive and nearly dead, with injuries that included a fractured skull, bruises in various stages of healing all over his body, and human bite marks. D.S. has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and will likely “need lifetime therapeutic services, due to significant delays from the injuries.” Father (who is not D.S.’s father) was charged, convicted, and served time in jail for D.S.’s injuries. D.S. was discharged from the hospital and placed in foster care in September 2022. On March 9, 2023, the juvenile court sustained a section 3001 petition, exerting jurisdiction over D.S. based on mother’s history of substance abuse, her allowing father—also a drug user—to reside in the home with unlimited access to D.S.,

In re A.O. CA2/2

AI Brief

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

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