In re J.B

Filed 4/4/06 In re J.B. CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

APPEAL from the Superior Court of Riverside County. Robert W. Nagby, Temporary Judge. (Pursuant to Cal. Const., art. VI, § 21.) Affirmed.

Karen J. Dodd, under appointment of the Court of Appeal, for the Defendant and Appellant.

Joe S. Rank, County Counsel, and Carole A. Nunes Fong, Deputy County Counsel, for the Plaintiff and Respondent.

Jennifer Mack, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for the Minors.

Defendant and appellant Cheryl S. (Mother) appeals from the juvenile court's judgment terminating her parental rights to the two minors, J.B. and J.S. (minors), pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code, section 366.26.^[1] Mother argues: 1) the juvenile court's finding that the minors are likely to be adopted is not supported by substantial evidence; and 2) the juvenile court abused its discretion when it terminated parental rights without sufficient information from the then four- and five-year-old minors about their feelings regarding the proposed adoption, in violation of section 366.21, subd. (i)(5). For the reasons set forth below, and after closely considering both the record and the well-written briefs in this case, we affirm the judgment of the juvenile court.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The three-year-old minors and their 22-month-old sister were taken into custody on March 4, 2004.^[2] Police conducting a welfare check at Mother's home found that the sister had bruises all over her body in various stages of healing. J.B. told the officer that Mother had hit his sister, after which Mother admitted to hitting the girl and to having intense feelings of rage. Mother was arrested for willful harm to a child and corporal punishment. (Pen. Code, §§ 273, subd. (a) & 273d.) This appeal concerns only the minors J.B. and J.S.

On March 8, 2004, the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services (Department) filed a petition in the juvenile court alleging the minors came within the court's jurisdiction pursuant to section 300, subdivisions (b) (failure to protect) and (j) (abuse of sibling). The minors were detained on March 9, 2004. They and their sister were initially placed in a confidential shelter care home. At the contested jurisdiction/disposition hearing on April 14, 2004, the juvenile court denied reunification services to Mother because she had inflicted severe physical harm on the minors' sister. (§ 361.5, subd. (b)(6).) The court granted reunification services to the minors' father, who was also the sister's presumed father. He is not a party to his appeal. The court also designated the minors and their sister a â€