San Diego County Health & Human Services Agency v. Jesse H.

*97 Opinion

This appeal concerns one-year-old Kaylee H., the daughter of Jesse H. and Tonya K. Shortly after Kaylee was bom, her parents placed her with her paternal great-uncle, Craig D., while they worked to resolve their substance abuse and legal problems. With the parents’ consent, Craig filed for guardianship of Kaylee in probate court. He was granted temporary guardianship. The probate court referred the matter to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (the Agency) to investigate whether dependency proceedings should be initiated in juvenile court.

After completing the investigation, the social worker decided not to file a Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 1 petition on Kaylee’s behalf and recommended that guardianship proceed in probate court. Expressing concerns about Tonya proceeding without legal counsel in probate court, the juvenile court directed the Agency to file a section 300 petition, which the Agency did. After denying a motion akin to a demurrer and finding that the petition stated a prima facie case that Kaylee was a child described by section 300, the juvenile court dismissed the guardianship, made a trae finding on the petition and…