In re J.C. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

On May 15, 2014, J.C. arrived at school with approximately a dozen self-inflicted lacerations on her right arm from wrist to shoulder, several of which were nonsuperficial. She told her counselor she felt nobody cared about her, and she had written on her notebook, “I’m not afraid to die,” “no one cares about me,” and “life sucks.” She had also written a poem in which she stated she wanted to be “like the waves and the sky,” and reported she felt this way because of a lack of a relationship with Pierre B., her biological father. A social worker from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS or the department) arrived at the school within the hour, with a Psychiatric Mobile Response Team (PMRT) arriving shortly thereafter. When mother arrived at the school, she berated J.C. for embarrassing her and said she had no reason to feel the way she did because she had everything—shoes, clothes and hair styling—and it was not her fault that Pierre B. wanted nothing to do with her. The social worker and PMRT attempted to redirect mother and explain that her comments were unhelpful, but she “continued as if she was unable to help herself,” telling J.C. that

2 she…