San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Eric B.

On October 19, 1988, Petra B. was declared a dependent child of the juvenile court pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a) 1 and placed with her parents. At issue in this case is whether Petra B.’s health was in such danger as to justify intervention by the department of social services and the juvenile court. We agree with the parents that since the parent-child relationship is so important, the state should exercise great care before intervening and the state should not intrude into the relationship merely because it believes a certain kind of care or treatment is preferable; it is only when a child’s health is actually and seriously threatened that the state should intervene. We find this a close case, one that, perhaps, might have been better handled by pursuing a plan of voluntary cooperation between the parents and the department. Nonetheless, we conclude the department and the juvenile court were not unreasonable in deciding there was a real and serious danger to Petra’s health which justified intervention and, therefore, we affirm.

*1167 Facts

On August 4, 1988, Petra was accidentally burned on her face, neck and upper chest. The…