In re S.D. CA3

BACKGROUND

Mother has four children, M.C., K.D., S.D., and P.D., by three different fathers. This appeal challenges the juvenile court’s orders only as to S.D. and P.D. Kenneth G. (father) is the father of both S.D. and P.D. The petition mistakenly identified Ryan D. as P.D.’s father. On October 3, 2019, the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) filed a section 300 petition on behalf of three of the children, including S.D. (aged five years old) and P.D. (aged eight months old). The petition alleged mother had a substance abuse problem that interfered with her ability to provide regular and adequate care for the children (id., subd. (b)(1)), and that the fathers’ whereabouts were unknown and the children had been left without any provision for support (id., subd. (g)). The detention report recommended that the minors be detained from mother’s care and custody. An unannounced visit to the home by two social workers on September 20, 2019, confirmed that the house was cluttered and filthy, with dog feces throughout the house, standing water in the bathtub, and THC on a nightstand. There was evidence that mother had been in multiple car accidents after falling…