In re A.M. CA2/1

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

In February 2012, a car driven by Father was involved in an accident. A.M., age 15 months, her sister H.M., age 3 months, and their mother were passengers in the car. Although no one was seriously injured, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) detained the children because Father tested positive for methamphetamine. The children’s maternal aunt, with whom the family had been living, told a DCFS worker that Father had a long history of drug use. She also told the worker that the parents engaged in physical assaults on each other and that this violence was affecting A.M.’s emotional wellbeing. DCFS filed a petition to have the children declared dependents of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (a) and (b).2 In March 2012, the court sustained the petition under section 300 subdivision (b) based on the parents’ domestic violence and Father’s history of drug use. The court ordered Father to complete a drug program with random testing and ordered both parents to attend parenting and domestic violence classes and individual counseling. Both parents were granted monitored visitation and family reunification…