In re J.G. CA1/4

Filed 4/8/15 In re J.G. CA1/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

In re J.G. et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.

MARIN COUNTY HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, A143009 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Marin County Super. Ct. Nos. JV25895A, JV25896A, JESSICA G., & JV25897A) Defendant and Appellant.

Jessica G. (Mother) appeals an order removing her two daughters from her care. She asserts the evidence was insufficient to support the removal findings and orders. Because the issues are moot, we dismiss the appeal. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In February 2014, Marin County Health and Human Services (the Department) filed a Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 petition, asserting Mother’s 13 and 11- year-old daughters were at substantial risk of suffering harm due to instances of domestic violence and Mother’s substance abuse, as well as due to the abuse of a sibling, 7-month old J.G. The Agency detained all three children. At the jurisdictional hearing in April 2014, Mother submitted on the Department’s amended petition, which the juvenile court sustained under section 300, subdivisions (b) and (j). In August 2014, following the contested dispositional hearings in July 2014, the

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juvenile court found the two daughters to be dependents and ordered their removal from Mother’s care. In September 2014, Mother appealed from that order. On December 19, 2014, the daughters were returned to Mother’s care. Thereafter, on March 9, 2015, following Mother’s completion of various treatment programs, continued attendance in counseling and therapy, along with her continuous sobriety for more than one year, the juvenile court terminated its jurisdiction and dismissed the case. II. DISCUSSION The Agency moves to dismiss the appeal as moot. An appeal from an order in a juvenile dependency matter may be rendered moot by the dismissal of dependency jurisdiction during the pendency of the appeal if the dismissal of jurisdiction deprives the appellate court of the power to grant the relief sought in the appeal. (In re Michelle M. (1992) 8 Cal.App.4th 326, 330.) The purpose of the dependency proceedings is to reunify children with a parent. (In re Tania R. (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 447, 451.) Here, the court placed the daughters with Mother in December 2014 and terminated jurisdiction in March 2015.1 As a result, the Department maintains that the issues on appeal are moot. In Mother’s opposition to the motion dismiss, she argues that the appeal is not moot because it still presents justiciable issues, particularly in light of the fact that she has appealed from the juvenile court’s March 2015 order.2 According to Mother, dismissing