San Diego Cnty. Health & Human Servs. Agency v. E.A. (In re E.A.)

*651 When 14-year-old E.A. and her 11-year old sister, M.A. (together minors or children), came to the attention of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency), they had been living in what the Agency describes as "deplorable" conditions. Minors, who are United States citizens, were living with their parents in Tijuana in an abandoned home with no electricity, no potable water, and with cockroaches crawling near minors' bed. The children had not been to school for over a year. They looked anorexic because J.A. (Mother) and Z.A. (Father) (together parents) fed them only one meal a day.

When ruling in dependency proceedings, " 'the welfare of the minor is the paramount concern of the court.' " ( In re B.D. (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 975 , 983, 67 Cal.Rptr.3d 810 .) At the time of the dispositive hearing in this case, there was no evidence that the above-described conditions had changed.

However, misinterpreting Welfare and Institutions Code 1 section 300, subdivision (g), and misapplying Allen M. v. Superior Court (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1069 , 8 Cal.Rptr.2d 259 ( Allen M. ), the juvenile court dismissed the dependency petitions. Minors appeal.

On appeal, the Agency…