In re R.L. CA2/6

FACTS

On August 19, 2020, HSA filed a juvenile dependency petition alleging Mother and Father had failed to protect and had abused their infant child R.L.2 (§ 300, subd. (b)(1).) HSA said that Mother gave birth to the child who tested positive for codeine, morphine, methamphetamine, and amphetamine at birth, and that she has substance abuse and mental health problems that interfere with her ability to care for the child. HSA said Mother and Father had another child (N.L.) who was declared a dependent of the juvenile court in 2019 “due to the child’s positive toxicology results at birth and the parents[’] substance abuse.” In that prior case, N.L. was placed in a “legal guardianship,” the parents were “bypassed for services,” and that dependency case was dismissed. In the current case involving R.L., HSA said the parents have “failed to benefit from prior court intervention.” HSA detained R.L. At the detention hearing, Mother and Father did not appear. HSA had obtained the parents’ signatures on “parental notification of Indian status” ICWA-020 forms where they said, among other things, that they and R.L. were not members or eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and they had…