D.B.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Section 300 Petition (March 2024) The Department of Family and Children’s Services (Department) filed a petition under section 300, subdivisions (b)(1) [failure to protect] and (c) [serious emotional damage] alleging that the child, then seven years old, came within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.2 The petition alleged that the child was at substantial risk based on the parents’ verbal and physical altercations and alcohol abuse. The child was the subject of a prior dependency proceeding between 2019 and 2022, due to the parents’ domestic violence and substance abuse. According to the most recent petition, the parents engaged in an altercation while the child was present. Father was arrested for violating a peaceful contact order. Mother violated a custody order by allowing Father to have contact with the child without supervision by the paternal grandmother. The child reported that she did not feel safe when the parents fought. The petition alleged that on another occasion, law enforcement found Mother in a vehicle with the child crying in the backseat. Mother’s speech was slurred, she smelled of alcohol, and there were open…