Contra Costa County Children and Family Services Bureau v. A.C.

A.C. (father) appeals from an order terminating his parental rights as to his child, M.C. (minor) at a hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26.1 Father argues the juvenile court should have applied the beneficial relationship

¹ Subsequent undesignated statutory citations are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

exception to the presumption favoring adoption and termination of parental rights. We find no error and affirm.

Much of the background of this case is set forth in a prior opinion, SO we limit our factual review to those facts directly relevant to father's argument. (L.B. U. Superior Court of Contra Costa County ( April 5, 2021 , A ) [nonpub. opn.].)

The minor was born in November 2010 . The juvenile court assumed jurisdiction over the minor in June 2018 based in part on allegations by the Contra Costa County Children and Family Services Bureau (Bureau) that father was unable to regulate his aggressive emotional outbursts and to understand the impact of these outbursts on the minor. In August 2019 , the juvenile court also assumed jurisdiction over the minor based on allegations in a supplemental petition that alleged that father had struck mother many times in the past, raped her about a month earlier, punched her in the head, intentionally hit her head on the car when helping her out of the car, and broke her cell phone in half and threw it at a wall. The juvenile court placed the minor in a foster home.

Father visited the minor weekly, and the social worker believed the visits showed that he and the minor had a deep, affectionate bond. He behaved lovingly and appropriately during visits. Father engaged the minor in a variety of topics of mutual interest, primarily video games. After the first visit, the minor told the social worker that he missed his parents.

At the disposition hearing on the supplemental petition in November 2019 , the juvenile court reduced visits to two one-hour visits per month. At one visit in November 2019 , father told the minor that mother was dumb. Father also cried during that visit, and the minor cried on the drive back to the foster home. At a visit in January 2020 , father asked the minor why he had not called father, and the minor shrugged his shoulders. In February 2020 , mother had injuries on her face and a broken tooth during a visit, and the minor asked her what happened. Mother tried to explain, but father stopped her and told the minor mother fell again. The minor asked mother again what had happened, and mother shook her head and said she did not want to talk about it. At the next visit, father picked up mother and dropped her in a wheelchair without locking the wheels, which could have resulted in a fall.

Starting in March 2020 , the visits transitioned to video visits due to the pandemic. The video visits and phone calls mostly remained appropriate, although at one point father promised the minor a video game system when he came home, which violated a rule that parents not talk about children coming home. During a phone call in April 2020 , father began to cry, after which the minor began to cry and the call had to be ended. The minor then isolated himself in his room for a couple hours after the call.

In April 2020 , the minor's foster mother said the minor was allowed to call his parents whenever he wanted but calls occurred

approximately twice per month. The minor often talked about video games on the calls, and there was laughing and joking.

In May 2020 , the social worker observed that father and the minor interacted positively but that the minor was resistant to talking about his feelings about his parents and was only able to do it on a surface level. The social worker concluded that the minor had a bond with father and talked at length with father about things the minor was interested in, such as "the world and stories [the minor] created." The minor invited father to ask questions but remained mostly in control of the dialogue. The minor missed playing video games with father and described the games as fun and violent.

In contrast with earlier in the case, when the minor talked about missing his parents and wanting to return home, the minor said he was happy where he was but wanted to continue to visit his parents and grandmothers. The minor was interested in attending the visits but did not express any challenges at leaving the visits. The minor only exhibited an emotional reaction, such as crying or withdrawing, in response to seeing or hearing father become emotional. The social worker found it difficult to identify strengths or weaknesses in the bond between the minor and father due to their limited interaction.

In October 2020 , the minor did not ask for a phone call for three weeks. In-person visits resumed that month. The visits went well, with the minor describing them with two thumbs up. The family talked, laughed, joked, and chatted in a pleasant