In re A.M. CA1/2

BACKGROUND

A.M.’s Detention and the Agency’s Petition On August 22, 2013, police were called to the apartment of mother and A.M. in Oakland, California, after a disturbance was reported. They observed A.M. had scars on his arm resembling cigarette burns and found an unlocked shotgun in the home. A.M. was taken into protective custody and mother was arrested for child endangerment and obstruction of justice. The Agency filed its petition on August 26, 2013. It alleged pursuant to section 300, subdivision (b) that AM. had suffered, or there was a substantial risk that he would suffer, serious physical harm or illness because of mother’s mental health issues. The Agency alleged that A.M. had scarring on his arms consistent with cigarette burns. It also alleged that mother was observed screaming at A.M. and pulling him by the hair, barricaded herself and A.M. in a bathroom and resisted arrest, believed she was being stalked by a man, and kept an unlocked shotgun with easily accessible ammunition in her home. The Agency alleged that father had a history of substance abuse that affected his ability to care and provide for A.M. and had been charged with corporal punishment of a spouse…