In re A.C.

K.C. (Mother) was born in California. She was deported from Mexico to the United States. San Diego Police Department officers responded to a call regarding a female (Mother) who might be unfit to care for her two children. On their arrival, the officers found A.C., then six years old, and E.C., then 15 months old, sitting on the ground with Mother. Mother appeared manic and confused about her detention and expressed irrational beliefs (e.g., she could communicate telepathically). Based on their belief Mother was gravely disabled and unable to care for herself and her two children, the officers detained Mother pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150 and transported her to a San Diego County mental health facility for evaluation. Her children were transported to the Polinsky Children's Center (PCC). Mother appealed juvenile court orders that ultimately terminated parental rights to her sons. She contended the court erred by concluding it had subject matter jurisdiction over her children's cases under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA). Mexico was the children's home state; although the court sent two e-mails to Mexico courts inquiring whether they declined to exercise jurisdiction over the children's cases in favor of California's assumption of jurisdiction, Mother argued the court erred by not verifying and authenticating on the record that those e-mails were sent to the correct e-mail addresses and appropriate judicial authorities in Mexico and that those e-mails were actually received by those authorities. She further argued that, in any event, the court could not exercise subject matter jurisdiction because there is no evidence showing that the children and at least one parent had significant connections to California other than mere physical presence or that there was substantial evidence available in California concerning the children's care, protection, training, and personal relationships. Finding no reversible error with the juvenile court’s orders, the Court of Appeals affirmed. View "In re A.C." on Justia Law