In re A.J. CA2/3

BACKGROUND

1. The Family Father and A.W. (mother) have been together as a couple for 15 years and married for five of those years. They have two children, A.J. (daughter) and I.J. (son). When the underlying proceedings began, daughter was ten years old and son was four years old. Mother has an older adult daughter, S.C. (half sister), from a different relationship. Although father is not half sister’s biological parent, he considers her his biological child and “practically raised her as his.” Although mother and father were married, they did not live together. Mother lived with daughter, son, and half sister. Father visited them at home a few times a week and sometimes stayed the night. Mother explained father did not live with them “because she is currently under Section 8, and father is not on the

2 contract.” According to mother, father “bounces” between different homes of relatives and friends. Father joined a gang when he was a teenager. However, for the past year or more, father, now in his thirties, had been “staying away from the gang life” and was “focused on being a family man.” 2. Events Preceding Petition In August 2024, father was arrested after he…