In re A.O. CA2/8

BACKGROUND

This family came to the attention of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) following a December 2020 referral that then two- year-old A.O. was found wandering the streets alone at night, wearing only a dirty shirt and diaper. Mother called 911 at 10:00 p.m. to report A.O. missing, more than an hour after the Sheriff’s Department received the 911 call about the child. Mother told deputies she and A.O. were sleeping together at approximately 8:20 p.m. She later woke up and discovered A.O. was missing. Mother believed A.O. unlocked the door and left through an open gate. Mother admitted this was not the first time A.O. had unlocked the door and gone outside. The family lived in a high crime neighborhood, with gang members next door, and multiple shootings on the street where A.O. was found. Mother was arrested for child endangerment. At the time of the incident, father was at work. Father was employed as a forklift driver. Mother told the social worker that she had smoked marijuana that afternoon. She smoked a “blunt” while maternal great-grandmother was watching the children. Mother denied that smoking marijuana affected her…