In re J.R. CA2/2

I. Background Summary

Mother’s daughter J.R. was born in November 2018. Mother already had two sons, one of whom was Jordan. He was born in 2016. Jordan and J.R. had different fathers. In October 2017, a section 300 petition was sustained on behalf of Jordan.

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code. Because the only issues on appeal are whether DCFS failed to comply with its statutory duties of inquiry and, if so, what remedy is appropriate, we give only a brief summary of the background facts not relevant to those issues.

2 He was declared a juvenile court dependent. Parental rights were later terminated, and Jordan was adopted. The older son was in foster care with a maternal great aunt in Texas before her death in January 2022. On November 16, 2018, DCFS filed a section 300 petition on behalf of newborn J.R. The petition alleged J.R. was at risk of serious physical harm due to Mother’s domestic violence, marijuana abuse, and failure to reunify with Jordan. J.R. tested positive for marijuana at birth. An amended dependency petition filed on January 9, 2019, alleged Mother had engaged in another domestic violence incident. Mother…