Shane L. v. Super. Ct. CA4/3

FACTS

In January 2011, mother gave birth to Angel in a convenience store parking lot. Both parents claimed not to know mother was pregnant and admitted to daily marijuana use. Angel tested positive for marijuana and had trouble breathing and poor coloring. He suffered brain damage and an infection requiring intense antibiotic treatment. David was found in a dirty, cluttered house with numerous potentially toxic chemicals within his reach. The court detained the children finding them at risk due to parents’ ongoing drug use, ordered reunification services, and authorized drug testing and three visits a week.

2 Parents’ reunification plans included counseling, 12-step meetings, an outpatient substance abuse program, and drug testing, and provided that a missed test would be treated as a positive result. By the time of the combined jurisdiction and disposition hearing in April, mother had completed parenting education and parents regularly tested negative for drugs with the exception of father having one diluted test that counted as positive. But parents’ participation in the case plan was sporadic and they consistently attended only one visit a week. The court sustained an amended…