Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Miguel S.

Miguel S. (Father) appeals from the juvenile court’s order removing his son, Michael, from his custody. At the time the juvenile proceedings began, Michael lived with his mother, Maria O. (Mother), and Father. Father now lives elsewhere and is prohibited by a restraining order from any contact with Michael other than in supervised visits.

Father does not challenge the juvenile court’s jurisdictional findings and does not argue for any practical change in his access to Michael. Rather, Father argues that the governing statute, Welfare and Institutions Code section 361, subdivision (c)(1), does not permit removal from just one “custodial” parent. Because the court ordered Michael to remain in Mother’s custody with restrictions on Father’s contacts, Father claims that there was necessarily a reasonable alternative to removal and that the removal order therefore exceeded the juvenile court’s jurisdiction.

We disagree with Father’s statutory interpretation and therefore affirm.

BACKGROUND

Michael was born in 2011 and was four years old at the time of the juvenile court proceedings. He lived with Mother and Father and three children from Mother’s previous marriage to…