In re N.L. CA6

BACKGROUND

A. Section 300 Petitions and Initial Reports On May 11, 2012, the Santa Clara County Department of Family and Children‟s Services (Department) filed petitions alleging that the children fell within the dependency jurisdiction of the juvenile court under section 300, subdivision (b) [failure to protect] and section 300, subdivision (c) [serious emotional damage]. At the time, N.L. was almost three years old and X.L. was about one and a half years old. The Department filed an initial hearing report on May 14, 2012, a first amended section 300 petition on June 1, 2012, and a jurisdiction report on June 21, 2012. The petitions and reports alleged the following facts. 1. Mother’s Criminal and Psychiatric History Mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 16. In 1995, Mother‟s two-year- old child, N.M., was removed from her custody and placed with his father due to her mental health problems and her inability to provide appropriate and adequate care for him. In 2003, Mother was convicted of battery on emergency personnel. (Pen. Code, § 243, subd. (c)(1).) In 2005, she violated the conditions of her parole by committing assault with a deadly weapon, driving…