In re J.H.
The San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency (Agency) removed the twins from the care of their mother after the twins reported to their school counselor that their mother beat them with a belt and other objects.
Florence gave birth to the twins in 2002. She did not know the identity of their father, since at the time of conception she was in relationships with four different men. Despite due diligence efforts, the whereabouts of the potential fathers remain unknown. None of the potential fathers are parties to this appeal.
Because Florence's pregnancy was considered high risk, she stayed with a friend, A.C. The twins were born prematurely at 28 weeks. Florence spent six months in the hospital after giving birth, and asked A.C. to take care of the twins "until [she] got on [her] feet." A.C., in turn, made a mutual friend, P.C., the twins' godmother.
Florence was "mostly out" of the twins' lives for the first few years. P.C. was the primary caregiver during that time, though Florence asserts she acted as primary caregiver at times. In 2005, when the twins were three, Florence became employed and attempted to get her children back. P.C. resisted this. The twins were removed from P.C.'s home and later released into Florence's custody, after she proved that she had sole legal custody over them. Florence allowed the children to stay with P.C. on weekends. J.Q. often referred to P.C. as "my other mom." The twins expressed their desire to live with P.C. instead of their mother.
In 2006 and 2007, the Agency received several referrals alleging general neglect, burns from a curling iron, and that Florence was striking the twins with a belt. No action resulted from these referrals.
In May 2011, J.Q. asked his school counselor if he could talk to her about his feelings. The counselor told him to come to her office the following morning. When he arrived, J.Q. told her that he was being hit at home by Florence, sometimes with a cell phone charging cord, other times with a belt and buckle. He showed the counselor a bruise on his right hip. He said he got the bruise when Florence hit him with the belt and a buckle after he played with his puppy and a ball in the house. He said Florence hit him with the phone charger cord for going into the kitchen without permission.
J.Z. confirmed that Florence hit J.Q. with a belt after J.Q. accidentally dropped their puppy, and that she has hit J.Q. with the phone charger for going into the kitchen without permission. He said that Florence hit J.Q. almost every day but never hit him, saying, "I am the good child and [J.Q.] is the bad child." J.Z., like J.Q., did not want to return to Florence's home, but asked to live with P.C.
The counselor called law enforcement officers, who interviewed the twins and took photographs of their injuries. The officer then took the twins into protective custody.
Both J.Q. and J.Z. underwent a physical examination. J.Q. had a large, square-shaped bruise on his hip. J.Q. told the physician examining him that Florence was "dangerous" and "whoop[ed]" him with a belt. The physician noted that J.Q.'s injury was "very typical of belt marks" and concluded that J.Q. had inflicted injuries on his body. J.Z. reported that his mother "whooped" him with an open hand, but that his brother received worse punishments.
Florence adamantly denied committing any physical abuse against the twins. She told a social worker that J.Q. received the bruises on his legs after wrestling with his brother, but said this before the social worker informed her that bruises had been found on his legs. She maintained that she was strict with the twins, but never abusive.
Comments on In re J.H.