In re Gregory E. CA2/8

FACTS

Mother and Father have one child, Gregory. He was born one month early by emergency C-section in December 2020. Gregory remained in the NICU for five days because he required oxygen and additional support. Father was present during the birth. At the hospital, Gregory and Mother both tested positive for methamphetamine. A referral was made to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). When the DCFS social worker interviewed Mother at the hospital, Mother admitted to using methamphetamine a total of five or six times during the pregnancy to deal with pain associated with urinary tract infections. She last used methamphetamine a day or two before she gave birth. Mother began using methamphetamine at 14. At 17, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression. Mother reported she kept her drug use from father, maternal grandmother, and everyone else during her pregnancy. Father has two older children with two other women: a 13 year old who does not live nearby and whom he hardly sees, and a one year old whom he sees through an informal arrangement with the child’s mother. Maternal grandmother and others

1 reported Mother takes care of the…