In re Dezi C.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

Mother and Luis C. (father) have two children—Dezi C. (born May 2016) and Joshua C. (born April 2018). On November 6, 2019, mother and father got into a verbal fight. After father threatened to kill mother, mother struck

3 father with a broomstick while father was holding then-toddler Joshua in his arms. This was not the first such incident between the parents. Both mother and father also have longstanding issues with substance abuse. Mother has been using methamphetamine for more than seven years; father also uses.

II. Procedural Background

A. Petition, adjudication and termination of parental rights On December 17, 2019, the Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (the Department) filed a petition asking the juvenile court to exert dependency jurisdiction over Dezi and Joshua on the basis of (1) mother’s and father’s history of domestic violence (rendering jurisdiction appropriate under subdivisions (a) and (b)(1) of section 300), and (2) mother’s and father’s drug abuse (rendering jurisdiction appropriate under subdivision (b)(1) of section 300).2 On February 19, 2020, the juvenile court held a combined…