Humboldt County Department of Social Services v. Pamela C.

This appeal from an order terminating parental rights of a prison inmate presents a troubling record of intervention by the Department of Social Services of Humboldt County (hereafter DSS).

The minor, Monica C., is the sixth child of Pamela C. (appellant), who has an extensive criminal record dating from her addiction to heroin in the late 1970’s and a history of losing custody of previous children. According to a DSS report, her first marriage produced three children who “were passed around to different relatives’ homes.” The two children of a second marriage are now in the guardianship of their paternal grandparents.

*299 Following her third marriage, appellant and her husband, Todd C., were sentenced to state prison in 1989. Being pregnant at the time of imprisonment, Pamela gave birth to a daughter, Monica C., on June 28,1990. A week after birth, the infant was entrusted to appellant’s great aunt, Betty Martin, and her husband, Wayne Martin. On September 5, 1990, Pamela was released and assumed custody of the child. She was later arrested for a parole violation on January 16, 1991, and incarcerated in a local jail. On May 26, 1991, she was released on parole and…