In Re Richard K.
MARTIN, Acting P.J.
Brenda K. appeals from juvenile court dispositional orders adjudging her minor children dependents and removing them from her custody. The mother‘s alcohol abuse and emotional problems are at the root of these proceedings. On appeal, she contends her problems have not adversely affected her children and therefore the juvenile court‘s findings and orders are unjustified. We will affirm.
On March 11, 1993, Tulare County Child Protective Services (CPS) detained 17-year-old Richard K.1 and his 14-year-old sister Melissa K. In turn, the county‘s department of public social services (Department) petitioned the juvenile court to declare the two teenagers dependent children pursuant to
The mother did not appear at a jurisdiction hearing set for early April 1993. Consequently, the court took the mother‘s default and sustained the petition on all three grounds as to Richard and on
In July of 1993, the mother moved for relief from her default. Following a hearing on the matter, the court granted the mother‘s motion and set the matter for a new adjudication hearing in mid-August.
The juvenile court conducted the new jurisdictional hearing over four days in August 1993. The Department submitted the matter on its preadjudication
At the conclusion of the jurisdictional hearing, the juvenile court determined, under
In preparation for the dispositional hearing, the Dеpartment filed its report, recommending out-of-home placement for both children and extensive reunification services for them as well as their mother. The parties submitted the matter on the recommendation. The court adjudged the children dependents, placed them in the Department‘s custody and ordered the services recommended by the Department.
The mother filed a timely notice of appeal.
FACTS
Prior History
Ricky has been a client of the Central Valley Regional Center4 (CVRC) since 1976, the year in which he was born. He lived with his mother until he was five at which time he was placed in a state-licensed community care facility for reasons undisclosed on this record. He remained in community care until 1989 when his mother took him home to live with her. However,
During his eight-year period of community care, Ricky sometimes exhibited difficult behaviors but never required psychotropic drugs. He could be managed with structure, consistency, and some basic behavior modification techniques. Following Ricky‘s return home, however, the mother sought medications to control his behavior.
Between 1989 and February 1993 there were a total of nine CPS referrals in connection with this family.5 As set forth below, most were related to allegations of the mother‘s alcohol abuse. Many of these referrals resulted in the offering of services. However, until the fall of 1992, CPS stopрed short, in each instance, of initiating dependency proceedings.
In 1989 and 1990 CPS received three referrals concerning the mother‘s drinking which raised questions about her ability to care for her children. Each of these cases was closed once it appeared the mother was capable of appropriate parenting. In August 1990, CPS received a referral after thе mother had not returned home as scheduled from a trip to Las Vegas. The children‘s care provider had tired of caring for them. The children‘s aunt, however, took over for the caretaker.
Next, in February 1991, CPS received a referral that the mother had admitted she was an alcoholic and needed help. Home respite care was arranged through CVRC for Ricky and Melissa who stayеd with the family‘s landlord. The mother was referred to several programs and warned if she did not take care of her drinking problem, juvenile court action could be taken.
In April 1992, CPS received yet another referral regarding the mother‘s alcoholism. Though the mother then denied a drinking problem, she did admit she had recently gone to jail for being drunk in public. While the referral included a report that the mother was verbally abusive to 13-year-old Melissa, both mother and daughter denied the charge. It appeared to the social worker that Melissa had assumed the role of mother in the family. The mother left her to care for Ricky at times although Melissa claimed she always knew how to reach her mother if necessary. CPS again closed the case.
There was another referral in August 1992 when the mother went on vacation and left Melissa to take care of Ricky who was then on medication. A young adult neighbor, however, was watching the children at night.
Then, in late October 1992, CPS received yet another referral that the mother was drinking heavily and had struck Melissa and accused her of having sexual relationships. Melissa apparently wanted to be removed from the house at the time. It also appeared the mother had been locking Ricky in his room because he was hyperactive.
The children were detained and dependency proceedings initiated. For approximately the next three months, the children were in foster care. During that time period, Ricky was gradually weaned from the medications his mother had insisted he needed for her to control him. His behavior in foster care was described as stable and quite manageable. Melissa apparently did well in foster care too. In late January 1993, however, the juvenile court dismissed the petition.
Events Leading to Instant Petition
On March 2,6 CPS received the following referral: “R.P. [reporting party] was called to this home due to violence of the mother. Whole house was trashed. Mom said that her ex-husband had done it. When the police arrived at the home \x97 at the house, the mom met them at the door with a gun in her hand. R.P. took Mom to Tulare District Hospital and had drug test done. Came back positive for cocaine and amphetamines. R.P. said that the mother has gone back home and her new husband is аlso there. His name is Joe [R.] They have been married for one month only.”
According to Melissa, her mother and stepfather had been arguing during the two days preceding March 2. Sometime that afternoon, Brenda appeared nervous and worried that Joe R. would come home from work,7 retrieve
The police had been called to the family home between five and ten times since January 1993. Melissa called the police on some of these occasions when her mother and stepfather fought.
Later on March 2, there was another referral. The mother called police for an ambulance because Ricky had cut his finger and needed medical attention.10 When the ambulance arrived, Ricky was distraught and had to be wrestled to the ground. According to Melissa, Ricky was already upset because Brenda and Joe had been fighting. Then, when he sаw the police, Ricky became more upset and tried to run away.
When the social worker interviewed Melissa on March 3, the teenager was very defensive of her mother and maintained everything was fine at home.
On March 5, 1993, Tulare police found Ricky wandering around downtown Tulare at 10:30 p.m. He had snuck out a window and left home. Ricky was extremely violent and his mother requested he be takеn to the Renaissance Center, an adolescent facility at Clovis Community Hospital, because she was unable to control him. Ricky was admitted to the hospital facility as gravely disabled and a danger to others.
Ricky reported his mother and stepfather had been fighting all day11 and his mother had threatened to hit him with a belt. In response, Ricky became upset, began to hit his mother and later left home. When Brenda later described the events of March 5 to the social worker, she reported Ricky had been hitting Melissa and her. Then, the mother allegedly had to restrain him.
According to Dr. Fox, the boy‘s psychiatrist, Ricky‘s emotional well-being and his behavior had begun to deteriorate following his return to his
Based on this incident and the lengthy history of Brenda‘s inability to care for Ricky, Dr. Fox recommended Ricky‘s detention and placement in an appropriate CVRC home. He was plaсed with the same foster family who cared for him in late 1992 and early 1993. The foster mother later informed the social worker that when they arrived to pick up Ricky from the hospital, he ran and jumped into her husband‘s arms and wrapped his legs around him. On the way to the foster parents’ home, Ricky “continued to mention that his mother was ‘drunk, drunk, drunk,’ and that she still locked him in his room and tied him up. He stated that he did not like his mother when she drank.”
DISCUSSION
I. Substantial Evidence to Support Juvenile Court‘s Exercise of Jurisdiction*
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II. Removal Order
(1a) The mother next contends there was insufficient evidence to support the dispositional order removing the children from her custody. However, as discussed below, it appears from the record she has waived any objection to the juvenile court‘s dispositional orders. Thus, she may not be heard to claim insufficient proof.
In her dispositional report, the social worker proposed numerous findings and orders for the juvenile court to make. In relevant part, she recommended the court order Ricky and Melissa removed from the mother‘s physical custody based on a
At the dispositional hearing, the court called the case and had the following discussion with counsel for the mother:
“THE COURT: ... On thе [K.] matter, counsel are present with their clients. And we‘re here for disposition today. Are you ready?
“THE COURT: Okay. And how did you want to proceed?
“MR. HAMILTON: I just had a \x97 one second here, and I think we‘ll submit it.
“THE COURT: All right.
“MR. HAMILTON: Your Honor, Number 12, a psychologist can‘t prescribe drugs.
“THE COURT: I‘ll take care of that. What else? We‘re here for disposition. Are you submitting on the recommendation?
“MR. HAMILTON: Yes. Yes, we are. A couple things that we want on thе record at some point.”12 (Italics added.)
The court in turn adjudged Ricky and Melissa dependents, took custody from the mother and committed the children to the Department‘s custody for suitable placement.13 Counsel for the mother did not attempt to introduce evidence at this hearing or offer any argument.
In common usage, the word “submit” has several definitions. (Webster‘s Third New Internat. Dict. (1986) p. 2277.) Among those are aрplications particularly relevant to judicial proceedings, i.e.: (a) to send or commit for consideration, study or decision; and (b) to present or make available for use or study. (Ibid.) For instance, after the parties present evidence and argue their respective positions, they will “submit” the matter, asking the court to rule without further argument. (People v. Terry (1970) 2 Cal.3d 362, 378 [85 Cal. Rptr. 409, 466 P.2d 961].) Litigants also “submit” or present evidence tо the court. In dependency cases, for example, we find numerous references to a social worker‘s submitting a report and recommendations to a court. (In re Corienna G. (1989) 213 Cal. App.3d 73, 76 [261 Cal. Rptr. 462]; see also
(2) However, the primary definition of submit is to yield to, to surrender or to acquiesce. (Webster‘s Third New Internat. Dict., supra, p. 2277.) In this regard, it is not uncommon in dependency proceedings for a parent to “submit” on a social services rеport. (See, e.g., In re Tommy E. (1992) 7 Cal. App.4th 1234, 1236-1237 [9 Cal. Rptr.2d 402];
Notwithstanding a submittal on a particular record, the court must nevertheless weigh evidenсe, make appropriate evidentiary findings and apply relevant law to determine whether the case has been proved. (In re Tommy E., supra, 7 Cal. App.4th at p. 1237.) In other words, the parent acquiesces as to the state of the evidence yet preserves the right to challenge it as insufficient to support a particular legal conclusion. (Id. at p. 1237.) Thus, the parent does not waive for appellate рurposes his or her right to challenge the propriety of the court‘s orders.
(1b) In the present case, the mother‘s submittal amounted to acquiescence. Obviously, she was not the party presenting the social worker‘s recommendation to the court nor did she offer evidence and argue her position, in essence, asking the court to rule without further argument. However, the mother submitted on the recommendation, not on the report. We have found no authority which analyzes the legal consequence of a parent‘s submittal on a social worker‘s recommendation.
Nevertheless, the mother‘s submittal on the recommendation appears to distinguish this case from Tommy E. In our view, the mother‘s “submitting on the recommendation” constituted acquiescence in or yielding to the social worker‘s recommended findings and orders, as distinguished from mere submission on the report itself. This is considerably more than permitting the court to decide an issue on a limited and uncontested record, as was the case in Tommy E. The mother‘s submittal on the recommendation dispels any challenge to and, in essence, endorses the court‘s issuance of the recommended findings and orders.15
In other words, the mother was not disputing that the court should adjudge her children dependents, order them removed from her custody and provide a reunification plan. If, as occurred in this case, the court in turn makes the
III. Facts to Support a Reasonable Efforts Finding*
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DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
Vartabedian, J., and Harris, J., concurred.