In re I.R. CA2/5

Filed 9/2/20 In re I.R. CA2/5 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FIVE

In re I.R., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. B300530

LOS ANGELES COUNTY (Los Angeles County DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN Super. Ct. AND FAMILY SERVICES, No.19CCJP01414A)

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

J.I.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from orders of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Sabina A. Helton, Judge. Affirmed. Michelle E. Butler, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Office of the County Counsel, Mary C. Wickham, County Counsel, Kristine P. Miles, Assistant County Counsel, and David Michael Miller, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

J.I. (Father) and Z.P. (Mother) are the parents of a son, I.R., who was three years old when juvenile dependency proceedings began. The juvenile court assumed jurisdiction over I.R. because it found he was at substantial risk of serious physical harm for two reasons: Mother’s methamphetamine abuse and Father’s criminal history. The court denied Father’s request to place I.R. with the paternal grandmother and instead kept him in his placement with the maternal step-grandmother. We consider (1) whether Father’s appeal of the jurisdiction finding against him is justiciable notwithstanding the uncontested jurisdiction findings against Mother and (2) whether substantial evidence supports the juvenile court’s placement order.

I. BACKGROUND The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (the Department) began investigating I.R.’s welfare in February 2019 when Mother tested positive for amphetamine after giving birth to I.R.’s younger half-brother E.P. Mother admitted to a social worker that she used methamphetamine during her pregnancy. Mother also revealed I.R.’s maternal grandfather had been raising I.R. rather than her; the maternal grandfather confirmed he and the maternal step- grandmother had been caring for the child since birth because of Mother’s inability to care for the children. The Department filed a dependency petition alleging I.R. was a child described by Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300, subdivision (b) (as was E.P.) based on Mother’s substance abuse and E.P.’s father’s history of substance abuse offenses. The petition stated the whereabouts of I.R.’s father were unknown.