In re Lea S. CA2/8

BACKGROUND

Jurisdiction and Disposition The family came to the attention of DCFS when, on August 1, 2019, the parents left the children in a vehicle alone on a hot day with the windows open three inches while the parents went into a store to buy beer. The children were red and sweating profusely, with temperatures outside at 98 degrees and inside at 111 degrees. Naomi was banging on the window and crying.

Statutory citations refer to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

2 Bystanders had to break out the vehicle’s window to remove the children. Police responded and arrested the parents for child endangerment. Security video from the store showed the parents inside the store for around 10 minutes. The inside of the parents’ vehicle was dirty, with trash and clothes strewn about. The parents appeared disheveled, and the children were dirty. Police suspected the family was living in the vehicle. A social worker interviewed mother. She reported the parents had gone into the store to buy beer, claiming they had only been gone “two to five minutes.” She called her lapse in judgment a “mistake” and said the children were fine. She reported she and father drank beer and smoked…