In re Jeremiah W. CA2/6

Filed 6/30/14 In re Jeremiah W. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SIX

In re JEREMIAH W., a Person Coming 2d Juv. No. B252363 Under the Juvenile Court Law. (Super. Ct. No. J1436468) (Santa Barbara County)

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CHILD WELFARE SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

R.C.,

Defendant and Appellant.

R.C. (biological father) appeals orders of the juvenile court denying his petition for modification of an order bypassing reunification services and terminating his parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 388, 366.26.)1 We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services (CWS) took Jeremiah W. into protective custody when he was five months old, because of mother's substance abuse and incarceration, among other things. The petition identified R.C. as the alleged father, and his whereabouts as unknown.

1 All statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code unless otherwise stated.

At the April 2013 detention hearing, the court ordered a paternity test and detained Jeremiah. The paternity test appointment was initially scheduled for May 9, but the CWS worker rescheduled it to May 23 at R.C.'s request. R.C. did not appear on May 23, although the worker notified him on May 8 of the appointment. R.C. did not appear for the jurisdictional hearing in May or the continued jurisdictional hearing in June. The juvenile court sustained the petition, declared Jeremiah a dependent of the court and bypassed services to the mother because of her failure to reunify with Jeremiah's five half-siblings and her resistance to treatment for chronic drug abuse. (§ 361.5, subds. (b)(1) & (b)(13).) The court did not order reunification services for R.C., who at the time was an alleged father. (Id., subd. (a).) In July, R.C. spoke to a CWS worker and asked if he could visit Jeremiah. The worker asked him if he had submitted or would submit to a paternity test. He said he was "working on" it, but was concerned he would have to pay support. In August, R.C. submitted to a paternity test. It established he is Jeremiah's biological father. On September 9, he appeared in court with counsel for the section 366.26 hearing. The court continued the hearing because mother was incarcerated. The paternity test result was not yet available to the court, but R.C.'s counsel informed the court of it. She asked if R.C. would be authorized to have contact with the child if the results were confirmed. The court replied, "Not authorized at this time." In September, R.C. contacted CWS twice and asked for custody of Jeremiah. He told a CWS worker that when the mother was pregnant she told him he was the father, but he did not believe her. He said he missed the earlier paternity test appointments because he was angry, in denial, and was afraid to be a single parent at the age of 45. R.C. had no visits with Jeremiah. The court continued the section 366.26 hearing several times, and eventually set it for a contested hearing on October 17. On October 8, R.C. filed a petition for modification in which he requested reunification services. The court heard the petition at the contested hearing. R.C. testified that he wanted to raise his son. He had stable housing at a sober living facility, Casa Esperanza, and had worked as a certified drug and alcohol counselor there. He