In re T.S. CA2/1

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Two-year old T.S. came to the attention of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), following a report from the group home where he and his mother (Mother) were living, that Mother had screamed and cursed at T.S., choked him and “pushed his head with lots of force” The home also reported that Mother “hits [T.S.] a lot.” Based on this report the DCFS filed a petition alleging that T.S. was a child described by section 300, subdivisions (a) and (b) due to “excessive” physical abuse that “caused the child unreasonable pain and suffering.” Father’s whereabouts were unknown at the time and he was not mentioned in the petition. The juvenile court found a prima facie case of dependency and ordered T.S. detained from Mother’s custody. By the time of the jurisdictional hearing in January 2012, the DCFS had located Father in a California prison. The agency submitted a report to the court giving Father’s and witnesses’ versions of the facts underlying Father’s assault convictions. In an interview with a DCFS worker, Father stated that he got into a shoving match in a bar with a man who was drunk and they were both ejected. The drunk and his friends…