In re Terry W.



























Filed 10/5/10 In re Terry W. CA2/4

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>NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

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California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts
and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or
ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for
publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115 >.





IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA



SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT



DIVISION FOUR




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In re Terry W., Jr., et al., Persons Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.	B222543 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. CK47377)
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Terry W., Sr., Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles
County, Margaret Henry, Judge.
Affirmed.

Roni Keller, under appointment by the
Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Andrea Sheridan Ordin, County Counsel,
James M. Owens, Assistant County Counsel, and O. Raquel Ramirez, Deputy County
Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

introduction

Terry W., Sr. (Terry) is a father who
appeals from a juvenile dependency court order conditionally placing his three
minor children in their mother's home after they were adjudged dependents of
the juvenile court based on their
mother's and stepfather's physical abuse of their older half-sibling. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 300, 361.)[1] Terry contends substantial evidence does not
support the decision to return the three children to the mother's home. We disagree, and affirm the judgment of the
dependency court.

factual and procedural background

Terry is the father of Terry W., Jr.
(age 13), T.W. (age 12), and Tyrese W. (age 10). Terry and the children's mother, K.H.
(Mother), divorced in 2000, and subsequently had an acrimonious relationship. In 2002, Terry accused Mother of physically
abusing the three children, but an investigation by the Department of Children
and Family Services (DCFS) concluded that Terry was trying to coerce the
children into making false accusations of abuse. Terry initially shared joint custody of the
children, but has had little contact with them since at least 2005. According to Terry, this was because Mother
tried to keep him from the children.

The three children most recently came
to the attention of DCFS in early 2010, based on allegations of physical abuse of the children's 16-year
old half-sibling D. DCFS filed a section
300 dependency petition with respect to D. as well as Terry Jr., T.W., and
Tyrese, and detained the four children.
The petition alleged that Mother and her husband (Stepfather) physically
abused D., and that he and his three half-siblings were at risk of harm. The petition also alleged an episode of
domestic violence in which Stepfather struck Mother. There were no allegations that Terry Jr.,
T.W., or Tyrese had been physically abused or neglected. At the detention hearing, the dependency
court ordered that D., Terry Jr., T.W., and Tyrese temporarily remain in
shelter care pending disposition of their case.




Evidence Before the >Dependency Court >

According to D., he and Mother had
been at odds for some time. Recently,
she had locked him out of the house after an argument and he went to live with
his cousin for two weeks. When he
returned home, they again began fighting, and she hit him with a plastic
bat. He also recounted a prior incident
where Mother had hit him with a wooden cane.
He stated that he and Stepfather had not gotten along ever since
Stepfather hit Mother, and that Stepfather frequently hit him with his
fists. However, D. indicated that Mother
and Stepfather were appropriate with Terry Jr., T.W., and Tyrese, and that
these younger siblings were not abused or neglected.

Terry Jr., T.W., and Tyrese all stated
that they had never been abused or neglected by Mother or Stepfather, but that
D. and Mother frequently argued. They
all indicated that they were anxious to leave foster care and go home.

Stepfather admitted hitting Mother on
one instance, but said he had since attended anger management courses. He denied that he physically abused D., but
said he had sometimes restrained him when the child was fighting with
Mother. He also said that D. had been
smoking marijuana for some time. Mother
similarly noted that D. was abusing marijuana.
She also stated that D. had an upcoming juvenile court hearing on
charges that he had hit her. After
initially denying that she had hit D., she admitted hitting him with a plastic
bat. She indicated that she wanted Terry
Jr., T.W., and Tyrese returned home, but that she did not know how to handle D.
and needed the help of DCFS.

DCFS records show that Mother's oldest
child, Dejannae B. (now an adult), was the subject of dependent proceedings in 2001, during
which allegations of physical abuse by Mother were sustained. Dejannae's out-of-control behavior led DCFS
to terminate its services for Dejannae and she was declared a ward of the
juvenile court in 2002.

The director of the middle school
attended by Terry Jr. and T.W. submitted a letter in support of Mother,
indicating that she was a caring and supportive parent who had worked
successfully to improve her children's behavioral and academic performance at
school. Mother was reported to be very
active at the children's school, regularly exceeding the 40-hour volunteer
commitment and attending school meetings and parent-teacher conferences. The youth pastor at the family's church also
submitted a letter indicating that Mother regularly attended church with her
children, and praising Mother's care for her children.



January 29, 2010 Hearing

The dependency court held a
jurisdictional hearing on January 29, 2010, and after striking some of the
allegations in the section 300 petition, sustained the petition as amended,
finding: (1) on one occasion Mother
struck D. on the face and arms with a plastic bat and, on another occasion,
struck him with a wooden cane; and (2) Stepfather struck D. with his fists, and
Mother knew of this physical abuse and failed to take action to protect D. The court found that D. as well as Terry Jr.,
T.W., and Tyrese were at risk of physical harm and abuse and failure to
protect, and declared all the minors dependent children under section 300,
subdivisions (a) and (b).

At the same hearing, the dependency
court was also prepared to issue a disposition order regarding the placement of
the children. In its Disposition Report,
DCFS had initially recommended that Terry's children be removed from Mother's
custody, in part because the caseworker was concerned that Mother and
Stepfather minimized the domestic violence incident between them and ignored
the risk of further domestic violence, and Stepfather was resistant to
accepting family maintenance services.
However, Mother subsequently indicated that Stepfather would be willing
to accept family maintenance services, and said if he did not, she would make
arrangements for him to move out of the home so that she could accept services
and be in full compliance with the DCFS case plan and court orders. While DCFS continued to recommend that D.
remain in foster care, it ultimately recommended to the court that Terry's
children be returned to Mother's home on the condition that she and Stepfather
participate in extensive family maintenance services.

Before the court made a final order as
to placement of the children, however, Terry told the court he was troubled by
the DCFS proposal that Terry Jr., T.W. and Tyrese be returned to Mother's
home. He requested a continuance so that
he could have an opportunity to review the DCFS reports documenting the
situation in Mother's home. The court
granted his request, and the children remained in foster care in the interim.



February 4, 2010
Hearing

At the continued hearing on February
4, 2010, Terry
voiced his concerns about the pattern of abuse in Mother's home as set forth in
the DCFS reports. He again objected to
the recommendation by DCFS that his children be returned to Mother's home. Terry did not request that he have custody of
the children, but rather requested that they be placed with maternal
relatives.

The court agreed with Terry that the
children's exposure to violence in Mother's home was a cause for concern. The court noted that â€