Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. A.R.

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, J. Appellant A.R. (Father) is the father of two boys, L.B. (bom in September of 2005) and A. (bom in September of 2007). This case came to the attention of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (the DCFS) when, on November 2, 2007, DCFS received a referral that M. (Mother), the children’s mother and the mother of their half sister, six-year-old J., had been evicted from a residential substance abuse program due to a positive drug test. Mother left the drug program on October 29, 2007, with the two younger children, a newborn and a two year old.

DCFS was not able to locate Mother or the two boys. J. was located at her elementary school, and was taken into protective custody on November 5, 2007. A petition was filed pursuant to section 300 of the Welfare and Institutions Code1 on November 8, 2007, alleging that Mother had a long history of substance abuse which rendered her incapable of providing regular care for her three children. Neither Mother nor Father appeared at the [564]November 8 hearing, and arrest warrants were ordered for each parent. Additionally, the court ordered protective custody warrants to be issued and held for the two boys. The court found a prima facie case for detaining the children, the existence of a substantial danger to the physical or emotional health of the children, and that there were no means of protecting the children short of removal from the parents.

In a subsequent hearing, the juvenile court stated that it could not do anything regarding L. and A., as they had still not been located. The court declared J. a dependent of the court. DCFS was ordered to provide family reunification services (although the parents’ whereabouts were unknown), and set the six-month review hearing for May 7, 2008.

Mother was arrested on April 19, 2008. At that time, the police apparently turned the boys over to the children’s maternal grandfather, who in turn delivered A. to his paternal grandparents and L. to his cousin, to care for them.

On May 7, 2008, Mother and Father each made their first appearance in juvenile court. The court made detention findings for the two boys, and found Father to be the presumed father of A. and the “declared” father of L.; A. was placed in foster care. However, the identity of the family member caring for L. was not determined, and his whereabouts remained unknown. Mother was ordered into a drug treatment program, the parents were granted twice-weekly monitored visits, and the case was continued for a hearing to determine the whereabouts of L.