Jennifer H. v. Superior Court CA2/6

Facts and Procedural Background Mother has a long history of untreated mental health issues, which has resulted in multiple involuntary hospital holds and related dependency actions. In March 2025, police responded to a call that mother was manic and hysterical. The reporting party told police that she heard yelling and screaming from mother and M.E. When officers arrived, they saw mother holding M.E. on her lap and clutching her aggressively. Mother was subsequently hospitalized and M.E. was detained. Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services (CWS) filed an amended juvenile dependency petition, alleging among other things, mother’s longstanding mental health issues and her failure to address those issues, as well as the termination of reunification services and mother’s parental rights to S.H. due to mother’s untreated mental health issues. CWS recommended mother be bypassed for family reunification services. (§ 361.5, subds. (b)(10), (b)(11).) In June 2025, the juvenile court conducted a contested disposition hearing. Mother was the sole witness. She testified that when M.E. was detained, she was in “psychosis . . . and having delusional thoughts.” Mother stated that when…