In re N.M. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

In April 2007, a probate court appointed J.M. the legal guardian of her one-year- old granddaughter, N.M. In November 2010, the probate court appointed J.M. the legal guardian of her nearly six-month-old granddaughter, A.L. N.M. and A.L. are half sisters. Their mother, L.M., is J.M.’s daughter. In April 2011, L.M. gave birth to daughter E.R. Later that month the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) filed a dependency petition regarding E.R. On April 18, 2011, the juvenile court placed E.R. with J.M. (and her half sisters N.M. and A.L.). After attempting to provide resources and referrals to J.M. for more than six months, as described more fully below, on December 21, 2011, DCFS filed the dependency petition at issue here involving N.M. and A.L. The allegations under section 300, subdivision (b), that were later sustained by the juvenile court are as follows: “The children N[.]M[.] and A[.]L[.]’s Legal Guardian, Maternal Grandmother, J[.][M[.], has mental and emotional problems, including a diagnosis of Bi-polar [sic] Disorder, which renders the Legal Guardian unable to provide regular care and supervision of the children. The Legal…