In re Eli B.

BACKGROUND

In June 2017, Eli and his younger sister A.B. were four years old and two years old, respectively, when they were surrendered to a children’s shelter in San Joaquin County by an aunt who reported the parents had abandoned the children with their grandfather who could no longer care for them. The aunt was fearful for her family’s safety because, after their grandfather left the children with her, she had received threatening phone calls from father. According to the detention report, the children had been abandoned with a stranger several months earlier, in January 2017, and then stayed briefly with their grandfather before he dropped off the children with the aunt to care for them. The aunt reported the parents were dealing drugs, mother was engaged in prostitution, and the parents had been in Las Vegas and were presently in Atlanta. In an interview with a social worker, four- year-old Eli reported that his parents “don’t want me. They kicked me out; they fired me and kicked me out.” He also reported that his parents would punch him, hit him and call him derogatory names (such as “the ‘F-word,’ ” a “bitch” and a “punk”). The children were taken into protective custody,…