In Re Cristella C.

Harold LaFlamme and Karen S. Cianfrani, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for the Minor.

OPINION

SILLS, P.J. —

At birth, Cristella was jittery and irritable. Cocaine was in her blood, and she felt the pangs of withdrawal. Her mother, Jo Ann, was on parole at the time, having been convicted of using and selling heroin in 1986. Jo Ann had used heroin and cocaine since 1984 and gone through a number of unsuccessful drug rehabilitation programs. Cristella's brother Victor, three years her elder, was also born suffering drug withdrawal. Cristella's natural father was nowhere to be found, having gone back to a wife and children in Mexico.

On January 30, 1989, just five days after her birth, the Orange County Social Services Agency filed a petition to put Cristella under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. By February 10 Cristella was able to be moved from the hospital to an emergency shelter home. By April Cristella had been declared a dependent of the juvenile court, Jo Ann's counsel having stipulated there was clear and convincing evidence there was a substantial danger to Cristella's health if she was returned home.

For the first year of her life Cristella suffered a…