In re L.G. CA1/3

FACTS

A. The Dependency Petition, the Detention of L.G., and Subsequent Hearings After receiving a referral about L.G. in January 2020 when she was six years old, the Department met with L.K., father’s then live-in girlfriend who helped take care of L.G. According to L.K., father “has always been against institutions including doctors, dentists, schools, government, etc.” As a result, he refused to take L.G. to see a dentist until she was five. At that time, father allowed L.K. to take L.G. to a dentist, and in the summer of 2019, the dentist determined that L.G. had six cavities and three teeth in need of extraction. Rather than treat L.G.’s teeth, however, father “believed that the cavities would just get infected and fall out on their own.” L.K. also informed the Department that L.G. recently had to have surgery to remove an earring from her ear lobe. On January 26, 2020, L.G. woke with a swollen cheek so father and L.K. took her to a dentist. The dentist diagnosed L.G. with an abscessed tooth. Although the dentist wished to extract the tooth that day, L.G. was

All further statutory references are to the Welfare & Institutions Code.

2 given antibiotics, and an…