San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Tommy E.

Opinion

WORK, J.

Tommy E. appeals jurisdictional and dispositional orders declaring his two-year-old son Tommy E., Jr., a dependent child (Welf. & Inst. Code,

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§ 300, subd. (b)) and removing him from his home (§361, subd. (b)(1)).

The child was bom May 17, 1989, to the father and Loma M. When the parents separated in November 1990, the child remained with his father. On May 17, 1991, the father was arrested for abusing his live-in girlfriend and the child remained with the girlfriend. Released six days later, the father returned home to find the child would not eat, drink or get out of bed. On June 3, the father took the child to the hospital, accusing his girlfriend of giving the child drugs. A drug test on the child was negative. Dr. Ponaman diagnosed the child as suffering “nonorganic failure to thrive.” On June 7, the juvenile court ordered the child detained. On August 2, after the parents submitted the matter on the social study, the court declared the child dependent and ordered the child detained in a foster home with discretion in the department of social services (Department) to place him with the mother upon approval of her new residence.

The father contends the jurisdictional and dispositional orders are not supported by the evidence.

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The Department first contends the father waived his right to contest the jurisdictional findings on appeal, because he agreed to submit the

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jurisdictional determination on the information provided to the court in the social services report. (Cal. Rules of Court,

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rule 1449(e).) The Department bases its position by equating a submission as described in that subdivision with the alternative plea of no contest and the admission permitted by that rule.

An admission that the allegations of a dependency petition are true effectively waives objections to the technical sufficiency of the pleading.