MARDARDO F. v. Superior Court

In this child dependency proceeding, we interpret Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (b)(4), which states: “(b) Reunification services need not be provided to a parent or guardian described in this subdivision when the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, any of the following: [][]... [][] (4) That the parent or guardian of the child has caused the death of another child through abuse or neglect.”

We conclude the juvenile court properly applied this statute in denying reunification services to the 28-year-old father here, who, when he was 15, murdered a 13-year-old girl. We conclude that the phrase “the parent or guardian of the child” in section 361.5(b)(4) refers merely to the parent’s or the guardian’s current status in the current dependency proceeding, and the phrase “the death of another child” in the section means the death of any other child.

We also uphold the juvenile court’s accompanying finding under section 361.5, subdivision (c), that it would not be in the child’s best interest here to be reunified with the father. Section 361.5, subdivision (c) allows a parent described in section 361.5(b)(4) to still be offered…