Patricia S. v. Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, J. Albert G. was bom in December of 1993. A Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 300 petition was filed days later, alleging that his parents had physically abused his older brother Anthony G. and his stepbrother Alejandro D. The older children were put in dependency in Hawaii, where the family lived at the time the children were injured, but Albert was born here and the dependency was initiated here. In January 1994, DCFS2 and the California courts placed Albert with his maternal aunt, appellant Patricia S. In September, Hawaii authorities placed Alejandro and Anthony with her as well, with respondent DCFS providing courtesy supervision.

DCFS’s reports on Albert’s placement were consistently favorable. As to Albert, parental rights were terminated in February of 1997. Patricia S. indicated that she wanted to adopt all three boys and DCFS made that recommendation. However, the adoption was delayed by Patricia S.’s divorce, and later by her concerns about the financial consequences of adopting. At times she indicated that she could not adopt the children or could not adopt all three, or could not adopt yet.

In July of 2001, with the adoption still not finalized, Patricia S. and the children were asked to leave the home of her parents, with whom they had been living. There apparently had been considerable friction between Patricia S. and her parents. Patricia S. sought DCFS’s assistance in finding a new place to live. DCFS removed the children from her care and put them in foster care.

[134]Although the initial plan was reunification with Patricia S., DCFS received negative reports about Patricia S. from Albert’s foster parents and took a negative view of her behavior vis-a-vis her parents, and by August was recommending against reunification services for her. DCFS returned the older children to Hawaii and- recommended a new permanent plan for Albert, adoption or legal guardianship with his paternal grandparents, whom he had just begun to visit. In November, Albert was placed with his paternal grandparents and they became his legal guardians.

Patricia S. protested the removal of the boys, filing unsuccessful section 388 petitions and applications for de facto parent status. She also went to Hawaii and sought to adopt Alejandro and Anthony. The Hawaii courts found that California’s allegations that she had abused and neglected the boys were unfounded. In April of 2002, she adopted those children.