In re Ryan G. CA1/5

I. BACKGROUND

In February 2012, mother lived with her four children: four-month-old Ryan, his two-year-old sister, Kaitlyn, and their two older half-siblings. Mother had a history of substance abuse and domestic violence issues, and was receiving family maintenance services for her two older children, who had been declared dependents of the juvenile court.

1 Further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

1 Respondent Alameda County Social Services Agency (Agency) filed a dependency petition alleging Ryan and Kaitlyn came within jurisdiction of the juvenile court under section 300, subdivisions (b) and (j), based on an incident of domestic violence between mother and Ryan and Kaitlyn’s father,2 mother’s alcohol use, and her failure to obtain treatment for substance abuse as required by the family maintenance plan in the older children’s dependency case. The petition was amended to add allegations mother had slapped the older children’s father while waiting in the courthouse hallway and had become intoxicated from drinking beer while waiting for a court hearing. All four children were removed from mother’s custody on February 22, 2012, when she was…