Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Rosemarie H.

Rosemarie H. (Mother) appeals from orders of the juvenile court declaring her 11-year-old daughter, Destiny S., a dependent of the court under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b), 1 and placing her with her maternal grandmother. There being no evidence that Destiny is under a current risk of serious physical harm, the orders are reversed.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Destiny, age 11, and her mother came to the attention of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) in September 2011 when someone called the department and “alleged sexual abuse of [Destiny] by an unknown perpetrator.” The local police and the DCFS investigated this allegation and concluded that it was “unfounded.” In the course of the DCFS investigation, however, Mother admitted that she had a history of using methamphetamine and marijuana. She told the DCFS worker that she smokes marijuana on a weekly basis, but not around Destiny. She also told the worker that she had stopped using methamphetamine “over a year ago” but a drug test the same day came back positive.

In October 2011, the DCFS filed a petition to have Destiny declared a dependent of the…