In re H.C. CA4/2

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

H.C. was five months old when she came to the attention of plaintiff and

respondent San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) on August 5,

2012. Two hospitals where she was treated for a depressed skull fracture submitted

referrals on that date, suspecting physical abuse by an unknown perpetrator.2 H.C.’s

injury required surgical repair.

At the time of H.C’s injury, she was in the care of her mother, as was her then

two-year-old half sibling, E.C.; father was incarcerated, and had been since before H.C.

was born.3 When asked to describe what had happened, mother initially reported that she

had just arrived at the home of a friend, with the two children in a stroller. Mother

described placing H.C. on a bed, leaving E.C. asleep in the stroller, and going to the

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

2 H.C. was initially taken by ambulance to San Antonio Community Hospital, and later transferred to Children’s Hospital of Orange County for surgery.

3Only father’s rights with respect to H.C. are at issue in this appeal, so our discussion of E.C. and mother will be limited to…