In re Thomas J. CA2/1

BACKGROUND

I. The Family

Mother and Father ended their relationship in 2018 when their son, Thomas J., was around three years old. Thomas lived with Father, and Mother visited Thomas under an informal arrangement. In October 2020, at the time the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received a domestic violence referral involving this family, Thomas’s paternal grandparents had been facilitating the visitation exchanges due to conflict between Mother and Father which had resulted in arguments during visitation exchanges.

II. Dependency Proceedings

On March 2, 2021, the juvenile court assumed jurisdiction over Thomas based on the following, identical findings, sustained under section 300, subdivisions (a) and (b): “On 10/13/2020, [Mother] engaged [Father] in a violent altercation in the child’s presence. The mother bit the father’s arm and scratched the father along the father’s neck to the father’s chest, inflicting injuries to the father’s neck. The mother took the father’s phone from the father and ran away. The father chased after the mother. The mother sustained bruising to the mother’s arm. The [5] mother was arrested for Corporal…