Orange County Social Services Agency v. Olga A.

*1252 Opinion

I. The Case

When Eileen, then a little more than a year old, was made a dependent of the juvenile court in the fall of 1999, the trial court denied any reunification services to her mother, Olga, because of the severity of physical abuse perpetrated by the father, Jose. (See Welf. & Inst. Code, § 361.5. subd. (b) (5). 1 ) Eileen’s injuries were basically internal. Olga did not appreciate the significance of a lump on the baby’s back and did not tell the child’s doctor about it (though she did take Eileen to a sobadora). In consideration of a writ petition, this court upheld the denial of reunification services, though we noted in our opinion that Olga, whose only sin was ignorance and lack of vigilance, had been under the stresses of her own mother’s recent death from cancer, a move to a newly purchased home, and her husband Jose’s unemployment and drug addiction. We also noted that the social worker actually recommended reunification services for the mother (something fairly unexpected in such a case). Indeed, the same social worker also recommended that an evaluation be made under Evidence Code 730 to ascertain the bond between mother and child, though Olga’s…