In re Alex H. CA2/4

Filed 12/23/13 In re Alex H. CA2/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 FOUR

In re Alex H. et al., Persons Coming Under B247978 the Juvenile Court Law. ___________________________________ (Los Angeles County LOS ANGELES COUNTY Super. Ct. No. CK85818) DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

KATHERINE G.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Anthony Trendacosta, Commissioner. Affirmed. Janette Freeman Cochran, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. John F. Krattli, County Counsel, James M. Owens, Assistant County Counsel, William D. Thetford, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ______________________________

Katherine G. (mother) appeals from the juvenile court’s order denying her Welfare and Institutions Code section 3881 petition, which sought reinstatement of reunification services or the return of her children Alex and A.H. to her or to the maternal grandmother. The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion, and we affirm its order denying mother’s petition.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL SUMMARY Alex (born in 2009) and A.H. (born in 2010) came to the attention of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) as a result of a police response to a domestic violence call in December 2010. In February 2011, the juvenile court sustained parts of DCFS’s section 300 petition alleging the children’s presumed father, Angel H. (father), hit mother while she was holding two-month old A.H., and had earlier dragged and struck mother in the stomach while she was pregnant. Also sustained were allegations that the parents used methamphetamine and marijuana. The children were removed from the parents’ custody, and the parents were granted monitored visitation and reunification services. They were ordered to complete drug rehabilitation with random testing, group domestic violence counseling, parenting education, and individual counseling. In December 2011, mother gave birth to a third child, Angel, who also was detained and placed with his siblings in the home of the maternal grandmother. The parents lived together through most of the period when reunification services were provided for the two older children. On April 5, 2012, father was arrested for domestic violence after he hit mother with his fists, dragged her on the ground by her hair, and kicked her in the head and stomach several times. On April 12, the court combined the twelve-month review hearing for Alex and A.H. with Angel’s jurisdictional hearing. The court sustained allegations of domestic violence and substance abuse in DCFS’s section 300 petition as to Angel and added him to the parents’ reunification plan. It terminated father’s reunification services as to Alex and A.H., continued mother’s