In re J.O. CA5

FACTS

Initial Removal On May 11, 2021, the Kern County Department of Human Services (Department) received a suspected child abuse report that the child’s mother (Mother) allowed a man to take the child to a store, but the man had not returned two hours later. Law enforcement eventually located the child eating with the man outside of a market. Upon contact by the Department on May 14, 2021, Father acknowledged that he allowed the child to have an unsupervised visit with Mother despite being told that Mother was not to be left alone with the child. The child had been left in Father’s care as part of a plan to avoid juvenile court intervention after an investigation in January of 2021 regarding Mother’s substance abuse. Father informed the investigating social worker that he went to file for full custody of the child on the date that the suspected child abuse report was made, but he could not explain why he failed to establish custody after the previous investigation by the Department. He allowed the child to visit with Mother because the child wanted to see her. While Mother looked sober when he dropped the child off for the visit, he reported that she “ ‘didn’t look too good’ ”…