In re L.M. CA6

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. The Dependency Petition and Detention Hearing On September 27, 2013, the Department filed a dependency petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivisions (b) and (j) on behalf of minor, who was four months old at the time.1 At the time the petition was filed, mother was living at a residential drug treatment center with minor and father was homeless. The petition alleged that mother and father had failed to protect minor. (§ 300, subd. (b).) As to that ground, the petition alleged mother and father had a history of domestic violence, including several physical altercations in minor’s presence. The petition further alleged mother had a history of abusing marijuana, criminal activity, and abusing and neglecting a daughter (daughter) born in 1999. The petition alleged father had a history of mental instability and abusing marijuana. As a second statutory ground, the petition alleged minor’s sibling had been abused or neglected (§ 300, subd. (j)). Specifically, the petition alleged that daughter had twice been removed from mother’s custody before mother relinquished her parental rights. The juvenile court held a…