In re S.H. CA2/5

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant J.K. (mother) and the father of her two youngest children, defendant and appellant M.D., appeal from the juvenile court’s jurisdiction and disposition orders. According to mother and M.D., there was insufficient evidence to support the juvenile court’s findings that both mother and M.D. posed a current risk of harm to mother’s six children1 and that there was no reasonable alternative other than removal that would protect the children. The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) cross-appeals from the juvenile court’s order dismissing all of the counts of the third amended Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 petition2 except the four new counts that the juvenile court added to the petition on its own motion. DCFS contends that the dismissal of the allegations based on M.D.’s physical abuse of mother’s four older children and mother’s failure to protect them was not supported by substantial evidence. Because there was sufficient evidence to support the juvenile court’s findings that mother and M.D. posed a risk of harm to the children and there were no reasonable alternatives short of removal to protect them, we affirm the…