In re Edward T. CA2/8

Filed 5/15/14 In re Edward T. CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 EIGHT

In re EDWARD T., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. B252447

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND Super. Ct. No. CK85332) FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

EDWARD T.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from orders of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Marguerite Downing, Judge. Affirmed.

Jamie A. Moran, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Appellant.

Office of the County Counsel, John F. Krattli, County Counsel, James M. Owens, Assistant County Counsel, and Peter Ferrera, Deputy County Counsel, for Respondent. ______________________________________

Appellant Edward T., Sr. (Father) appeals from orders to the juvenile dependency court terminating his parental rights over Edward T., Jr. The sole claim on appeal is that one of the required findings for termination of parental rights, specifically, that it is likely Edward will be adopted (Welf & Inst. Code, § 366.26, subd. (c)(1))1 is not supported by substantial evidence. We affirm. FACTS Father and D.M. (Mother) are the parents of two children: L.T. born in 2010 and Edward born in 2011. L.T. was previously declared a dependent child of the dependency court in 2011 and is not involved in Father’s current appeal. On May 23, 2012, the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received a referral concerning Edward after Mother and Father had been arrested for burglary. The investigating officer in the criminal case reported that the parents had confessed to the allegations. At that time, the family lived with the paternal grandmother, who was found to have outstanding warrants related to traffic offenses. A case social worker responded to the referral and took Edward into care.2 Edward appeared to be in good health and free of any signs of physical neglect or abuse. DCFS declined to place Edward with the paternal grandmother, due to her outstanding warrants. When interviewed on May 23, 2012, Father denied problems with drug or alcohol abuse, but did admit being arrested for drug possession in 2011. He had been submitting to drug testing as a part of his probation, but had missed some tests recently because, he said, he had been in Louisiana tending to his ailing grandmother.3 As to the burglary charge, Father admitted to taking a laptop from a neighbor’s garage. He indicated that he did it to get money for his family, and said he regretted his actions.