C.W.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

1. The Family A.S. and M.S. are the daughters of mother and C.S. (father).2 When the underlying proceedings began in September 2022, A.S. was approximately five months old and M.S. had not yet been born. A.S. and M.S. are both autistic.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. 2 Although father was a party to the proceedings below, he is not involved in these writ proceedings and we mention him only to the extent relevant.

2 Mother and father have a history of domestic violence against each other. They both have been arrested on separate occasions due to violence toward the other. When the underlying proceedings began, neither mother nor father was employed. They were living in a homeless housing project with A.S. and father’s minor son from a different relationship. Mother remained unemployed for the duration of the proceedings below. Mother had no family or support system in California. Mother’s main source of support was her stepmother, Denise Marshall, who lived in Georgia. Ms. Marshall had raised mother from the time mother was four years old and for some time had been mother’s legal guardian. She…