In Re Christopher B.

[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 553 OPINION

I. INTRODUCTION Jacqueline C., who is the maternal aunt of Christopher B. and Zion B. and lives in Tennessee, appeals from a juvenile court's supplemental order made pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 387: denying her reunification services; removing the minors from her custody; and ordering the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (the department) to provide permanent placement services for the minors. The aunt contends the May 31, 1995, dispositional order should be reversed because under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (Fam. Code, § 3400 et seq.) California courts should not have exercised jurisdiction on forum non conveniens grounds. We affirm.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Christopher B. was born on January 31, 1987, in California. Zion B. was born on January 10, 1988, in California with drugs in his system. The minors were declared dependents of the court pursuant to section 300, subdivision (a), because of neglect and the mother's substance abuse problem which limited her ability to care for the two children. On March 16, 1988, the court ordered the minors suitably placed. Under the terms of the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children (Fam. Code, § 7900 et seq.), the minors were placed with the aunt in Tennessee who cared for them and planned to adopt *Page 554 the youngsters. They remained with the aunt almost seven years and the parents' rights were legally terminated.

A June 24, 1994, the department case plan update judicial review report showed, in pertinent part: the minors had made significant positive developmental and social gains during the past several months; the aunt was exceptional in her commitment to the minors; and adoption continued to be the appropriate permanent plan.

On September 13, 1994, the Tennessee child protective services agency in Memphis, Tennessee, removed the minors from the aunt and took them into custody. It was alleged that the aunt had inappropriately physically disciplined the minors causing them unreasonable pain and suffering. The Tennessee child protective services agency in Memphis could not find an appropriate relative and, thus, asked that the minors be returned to California and that the interstate compact agreement be discontinued. The aunt stated she was "willing to participate in any counseling program the court and [the department] orders her to participate in."

On September 15, 1994, the department filed a section 387 supplemental petition requesting that the minors be returned to California because the Tennessee child protective services agency in Memphis wanted to send the minors back to California for ongoing supervision. An attorney was appointed to represent the aunt in abstentia at the detention hearing on September 16, 1994. Through counsel, the aunt entered a denial of the allegations. On September 23, 1994, after returning to California, the minors were placed in foster care in this state. The foster mother disciplined the minors with a belt and the minors were removed from her care and placed in a group home. On October 7, 1994, the trial court ordered the department to determine if the paternal uncle and his family in Tennessee were suitable for placement. In a report filed October 27, 1994, the department concluded, in pertinent part, after speaking with the minors and seeing pictures taken of them in Tennessee, the aunt's discipline was "excessive and abusive."