In re T.E. CA1/2

BACKGROUND

The children were removed from parental custody in November 2019, when mother was arrested after running into traffic on a six-lane freeway with 22-month-old Timothy in a chest carrier and 36-month-old T.E. in her arms. Both children were hospitalized for severe malnutrition. Timothy, at 12 pounds, was in the negative sixth percentile for weight for his age, and required a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC line) to supply nutrients as a life-saving measure; he also had severe eczema and black dots all over his body. T.E. was in the 27.76th percentile for weight. Doctors determined the children’s malnutrition was a “direct result of neglect and malnutrition/dehydration, and could not have been caused by genetics or trauma.” When interviewed, father reported that mother had left their home with the children a week before; over the past four months, she had frequently left with the children for up to a week at a time, without telling father where they were.2 Father expressed concern that mother might be using drugs, because she had recently lost a lot of weight and had been acting erratically, and also that she could be suffering from mental illness. Father…