T.G. v. Superior Court CA1/4

Filed 4/18/14 T.G. v. Superior Court CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

T.G., Petitioner, v. THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CONTRA A141005 COSTA COUNTY, (Contra Costa County Respondent; Super. Ct. No. J13-00427) CONTRA COSTA COUNTY CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES BUREAU et al., Real Party in Interest.

T.G. (Mother) has filed this petition for an extraordinary writ pursuant to California Rules of Court, rule 8.452 after the juvenile court refused her request to change an earlier order denying reunification services with her daughter, H.L. (Minor) and set a permanency planning hearing pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 366.26 (the .26 hearing). We shall deny the petition on the merits. I. BACKGROUND Contra Costa County Children and Family Services (the Department) filed a dependency petition (§ 300) in April 2013 on behalf of Minor, who was then two years old. According to the detention/jurisdiction report, Mother had lost custody of two of her children in the past as a result of her substance abuse issues. When asked in March 2013 1 All statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. All rule references are to the California Rules of Court.

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about her current substance abuse, Mother admitted to a social worker that she had used methamphetamine on two occasions, most recently about two months previously. She denied using alcohol or marijuana, but said that that Minor’s father, R.L. (Father) used marijuana.2 The petition originally included an allegation that Minor had suffered neglect, which the detention/jurisdiction report said was due to an “out of control diaper rash,” and to the facts that Mother had missed WIC appointments and follow-up medical appointments, that Mother smoked “crank,” and that she and Father frequently drank alcohol. Mother told the social worker that she missed appointments with a medical clinic and with WIC because she had to take recyclables to be redeemed so she could pay her rent and utility bills. In the social worker’s second conversation with Mother, Mother said she had made an appointment and that Minor had a staph infection and was being treated with antibiotics. Minor’s paternal grandmother told a social worker that Mother was using drugs on a regular basis, and that a year previously she had seen a crack pipe in Minor’s backpack. Mother’s home was “extremely cluttered to the point where it look[ed] like ‘hoarding’ behavior.” The detention/jurisdiction report noted that one of Mother’s older children, A.S., had been the subject of a dependency case due to a substantiated allegation of severe neglect, that the case included family maintenance and family reunification services, and that A.S. was ultimately adopted by a relative. Mother signed a voluntary family maintenance plan on March 25, 2013, but failed to maintain contact with the case worker, and failed to attend outpatient treatment with random drug testing, as the plan required. Minor was detained, and the juvenile court sustained three allegations of the amended petition: that Minor was at substantial risk of harm in Mother’s care because of