In re Am. D.R. CA1/3

facts stepmother alleged in her declaration, and that stepmother was “ ‘throw[ing] mud’ ” with allegations having nothing to do with the issue of terminating parental rights. Mother acknowledged she did not follow proper legal procedures before, explaining she was fleeing domestic violence and did not understand how to navigate the family court system. She indicated she loves minor, raised him in the early years of his life, and wants visitation and a relationship with minor. She further indicated stepmother and father made efforts to cut her out of minor’s life, such as by not accepting or facilitating calls. Mother claimed she paid child support through April 2020, but became unemployed during the pandemic and resumed paying child support after getting a new job. Though she had been saving money to hire an attorney to file a request for visitation, stepmother filed her petition to terminate mother’s parental rights before mother could do so. Accompanying mother’s opposition and later filings were text messages from August 2021 between mother and father, and a printout showing mother’s child support payments.

3 In August 2022, the trial court appointed separate counsel for…