Filed 4/4/23 In re M.P. CA2/4

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for 

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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

In re M.P., et al., Persons Coming 

Under the Juvenile Court Law.

 B315919

 (Los Angeles County

 Super. Ct. No. 19LJJP00427A-C)

LOS ANGELES COUNTY 

DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN 

AND FAMILY SERVICES,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

M.P.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 

Michael C. Kelley, Judge. Affirmed.

Serobian Law, Inc. and Liana Serobian, by appointment of the Court of 

Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Dawyn R. Harrison, Interim County Counsel, Kim Nemoy, Assistant 

County Counsel, and Sally Son, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and 

Respondent.
2

INTRODUCTION

Michael P. (father) appeals from the juvenile court’s custody order 

granting mother full legal and physical custody of their children and granting 

father monitored visitation. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 362.4.)1 Father contends 

the court’s “failure to make the required express findings under sections 361, 

342, or 387 resulted in an illegal removal” of the children from his custody. 

As the court appropriately determined that the best interests of the children 

should guide custody arrangements upon the termination of dependency 

jurisdiction, we affirm. 

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The family consists of father, E.S. (mother), and their three children, 

M.P. (born Feb. 2013), I.P. (born Mar. 2014), and A.P. (born July 2015). 

Father and mother ended their relationship in 2015. A January 2017 family 

law order granted the parents joint legal custody of the children, mother 

primary physical custody, and father custody on alternating weekends. 

In May 2019, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) 

received a referral alleging M.P. and I.P. returned from a visit with father 

with welt marks on their bodies and reported father had hit them with a belt 

and a metal hanger for dropping food. After mother discovered the marks, 

A.P. told her that father also hit him on his feet with a belt. Mother called 

law enforcement. Father denied the allegations and asserted mother coached 

the children. DCFS reported concern about the children being in father’s 

care given his history of being aggressive, perpetuating domestic violence 

1 All further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions 

Code. 
3

against his girlfriend in the children’s presence, and getting physical with 

mother’s husband during a custody exchange. 

On June 19, 2019, the dependency court signed a removal order 

authorizing DCFS to detain the children from father. On June 25, 2019, 

DCFS filed a dependency petition on behalf of all three children based on 

father’s physical abuse. The next day, the juvenile court ordered that the 

children be detained from father, that he have monitored visits, and that the 

children remained released to mother. 

In July 2019, M.P. and I.P. confirmed the referral incident to a social 

worker. I.P. reported that father had gone to jail for hitting his girlfriend. 

Mother told the social worker that father had hit the children before but not 

with objects. She also was aware that father physically fought with his 

girlfriend one time. 

In October 2020, DCFS reported the parents had each enrolled in 

parenting classes. The parents both reported that their relationship had 

improved, but they continued to have conflict; mother reported father cursed 

at the children, causing the children to fear him, and father complained 

about mother’s husband. DCFS continued to have concerns regarding the 

parents’ ability to co-parent as well as father’s anger issues. 

On October 21, 2020, the juvenile court found jurisdiction over the 

children pursuant to section 300, subdivision (b)(1), after father pled no 

contest to an amended count stating that father inappropriately physically 

disciplined the children and used inappropriate language that caused the 

children to be fearful of him. The court declared the children dependents of 

the court and ordered that the children remain placed in the home of both

parents and that the parents receive family maintenance services. The 

children’s release to father was over the objection of DCFS. Father’s services 
4

included a parenting course, anger management, family preservation

services, and individual counseling to address appropriate discipline, anger 

management, and co-parenting. 

Subsequently, DCFS reported the children were thriving in mother’s 

care and enjoyed spending weekends with father. However, the children 

stated that father would make derogatory statements to mother during phone 

calls and use foul language in conversations with them and in their presence. 

Father reported he had finished a parenting course but did not have time or 

money to spend on anger management classes. Father had also not 

participated in individual counseling as ordered by the court. Mother 

reported she continued to have issues with father at custody exchanges, and 

he had had several altercations with mother’s husband as well as her motherin-law. 

On April 21, 2021, the court admonished the parents not to discuss the 

case with the children and not to direct inappropriate language at the 

children. On May 3, 2021, a social worker spoke with A.P., who reported that 

father used foul language “all the time” when talking to him and his siblings. 

At a section 364 review hearing on May 17, 2021, the court ordered that 

jurisdiction and family maintenance services continue. The court again 

admonished the parents not to discuss the case or make disparaging remarks 

about one another to the children. DCFS was ordered to provide father with 

low cost referrals and assist father with funds for court ordered programs. 

In the subsequent review period, father reported “he has not completed 

any services required by [the] court” and he did not know what the court 

wanted him to do. When the social worker tried to discuss the programs he 

had been ordered to do, he stated, “I am not doing nothing because the 

system is fucked up and I got my other two kids and don’t care anymore.” 
5

When the social worker mentioned multiple resources DCFS had provided 

him, father responded, “Oh, well.” DCFS expressed concern that “father 

lacks the skills to be an effective parent without completion of his Court 

Order[ed] Case Plan, which included anger management, and individual 

counseling with a licensed therapist to address appropriate discipline, anger 

management, and co-parenting.”2 DCFS recommended the case be closed 

with a custody order providing sole legal and physical custody to mother with 

monitored visits for father.

A contested section 364 review hearing convened on September 27, 

2021. Counsel for DCFS requested that the court terminate jurisdiction and 

issue a family law order granting mother sole legal and physical custody and 

father monitored visitation. The court admitted into evidence various videos 

and transcripts of videos showing three phone calls in which father was upset 

at M.P. for missing calls with him, cursed at M.P., and disparaged mother. 

Father then testified. He stated that he saw the allegations sustained 

against him as “unfairness, frustration, irritating” and that he was not being 

heard by DCFS. He understood his case plan included anger management, 

counseling, and a parenting course, but he claimed that he was unable to pay 

for the classes and that the class schedules conflicted with his work schedule. 

He also testified the DCFS case worker told him there was no need for him to 

do the classes because mother was going to get sole custody anyway. The 

court continued the hearing. 

On October 5, 2021, the court heard argument from the parties. 

Counsel for DCFS requested the court terminate jurisdiction with a custody 

2 Although father had been ordered to do family preservation services, 

DCFS noted that father did not qualify for those services because he was not 

the children’s primary caregiver. 
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order providing mother with sole legal and sole physical custody, and 

requiring father’s visits be monitored. Counsel relied on father’s failure to 

complete the case plan, his persistent anger management problems, and his 

failure to acknowledge the case issues. Counsel for mother joined in DCFS’s 

request. 

Counsel for the children agreed the court should terminate jurisdiction. 

However, minor’s counsel argued the parents should have joint legal custody, 

with mother having tie-breaking authority. Although minor’s counsel agreed 

that mother should have sole physical custody, she recommended father be 

permitted to have overnight weekend visitation. As for telephonic visitation, 

because the children would get upset when father lost his temper during 

phone calls with them, counsel requested mother be permitted to terminate 

father’s phone calls with the children if father’s conduct was inappropriate. 

Counsel argued that father continued to “demonstrate a questionable 

understanding as to how [the dependency] case came about” and had not 

complied with his case plan. 

Counsel for father requested the custody order reflect joint legal and 

physical custody, with the children’s primary residence being with mother. 

Counsel noted the children enjoyed spending time with father and DCFS did 

not indicate the children were unsafe with him. Father’s counsel argued it

would be improper to “take away father’s custody” when terminating 

jurisdiction given that the children had remained released to father since the 

disposition hearing. 

The court terminated jurisdiction and issued a custody order granting 

mother sole legal and physical custody of the children, and granting father 

monitored visitation. The court relied on In re T.S. (2020) 52 Cal.App.5th 503

(T.S.), in finding that the children’s best interest was the key consideration in 
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setting the custody arrangements at the close of the case, “not whether 

anyone has demonstrated a safety risk.” The court noted the sustained 

petition related to father’s inappropriate physical discipline and 

inappropriate language that caused the children to be fearful. The court 

further stated the evidence showed father did not understand the difference 

between disciplining children and verbally terrorizing them, and that father 

could not control his anger toward mother or the children. The court did not 

find credible father’s explanations for his lack of progress in his case plan; 

rather, it found father “made the conscious choice” not to participate in any 

services other than a parenting class. 

Father timely appealed from the juvenile court’s custody orders. 

DISCUSSION

A. Applicable Law and Standards of Review 

At a section 364 review hearing, the juvenile court must terminate 

dependency jurisdiction unless the conditions that created the need for 

supervision still exist or are likely to exist if supervision is discontinued. 

(§ 364, subd. (c); see T.S., supra, 52 Cal.App.5th at pp. 512–513.) “The 

juvenile court makes this determination based on the totality of the evidence 

before it.” (In re Armando L. (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 606, 615.)

When a juvenile court terminates its jurisdiction over a dependent 

child whose parents are not together, the juvenile court is generally called 

upon to enter a custody order determining custody of and visitation with the 

minor children. (§ 362.4, subd. (a) [“If the juvenile court terminates its 

jurisdiction over a minor who has been adjudged a dependent child of the 

juvenile court . . . [and] an order has been entered with regard to the custody 

of that minor, the juvenile court on its own motion, may issue . . . an order 
8

determining the custody of, or visitation with, the child”].) “Any custody or 

visitation order issued . . . at the time the juvenile court terminates its 

jurisdiction pursuant to Section 362.4 . . . shall be a final judgment and shall 

remain in effect after that jurisdiction is terminated,” and it may only be 

modified in a subsequent family court proceeding if the court finds that 

“there has been a significant change of circumstances since the juvenile court 

issued the order and modification of the order is in the best interests of the 

child.” (§ 302, subd. (d).) 

“When making a custody determination under section 362.4, ‘the 

court’s focus and primary consideration must always be the best interests of 

the child.’” (T.S., supra, 52 Cal.App.5th at p. 513; accord In re J.M. (Mar. 2, 

2023, B313754) __ Cal.App.5th ___ [2023 WL 2443577, p. *11] (J.M.) [“‘[I]n 

making exit orders, the juvenile court must look at the best interests of the 

child’”]; In re Maya L. (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 81, 102–103 [“‘When making a 

custody determination in any dependency case, the court’s focus and primary 

consideration must always be the best interests of the child’”].) “Because 

juvenile dependency proceedings arise when children are subject to or at risk 

of abuse or neglect, ‘[t]he presumption of parental fitness that underlies 

custody law in the family court just does not apply. . . . Rather the juvenile 

court, which has been intimately involved in the protection of the child, is 

best situated to make custody determinations based on the best interests of 

the child without any preferences or presumptions.’” (J.M., at p. __ [2023 WL 

2443577, p. *11].) “The court must be guided by the totality of the 

circumstances and issue orders that are in the child’s best interests.” (Ibid.)

“‘[T]he juvenile court has broad discretion to make custody [and 

visitation] orders when it terminates jurisdiction in a dependency case 

(§ 362.4).’” (J.M., supra, __ Cal.App.5th at p. __ [2023 WL 2443577, p. *11].)
9

We review the juvenile court’s custody orders for abuse of that discretion. 

(Ibid.; see In re C.M. (2019) 38 Cal.App.5th 101, 104; Bridget A. v. Superior 

Court (2007) 148 Cal.App.4th 285, 300 (Bridget A.).) We will not disturb such 

a ruling unless the juvenile court made an “‘arbitrary, capricious, or patently 

absurd determination.’” (J.M., at p. __ [2023 WL 2443577, p. *11]; see 

Bridget A., at p. 300.) “‘“The appropriate test for abuse of discretion is 

whether the trial court exceeded the bounds of reason. When two or more 

inferences can reasonably be deduced from the facts, the reviewing court has 

no authority to substitute its decision for that of the trial court.”’” (In re 

Stephanie M. (1994) 7 Cal.4th 295, 318–319.) “‘“The question of whether a 

trial court applied the correct legal standard to an issue in exercising its 

discretion is a question of law [citation] requiring de novo review [citation].”’” 

(In re S.G. (2021) 71 Cal.App.5th 654, 673.)

“‘It is the [juvenile] court’s role to assess the credibility of the various 

witnesses, to weigh the evidence to resolve the conflicts in the evidence. We 

have no power to judge the effect or value of the evidence, to weigh the 

evidence, to consider the credibility of witnesses or to resolve conflicts in the 

evidence or the reasonable inferences which may be drawn from that 

evidence. [Citation.]’” (In re Casey D. (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 38, 52–53, 

disapproved on other grounds by In re Caden C. (2021) 11 Cal.5th 614.)

B. Analysis 

Father argues that the court “removed” the children from him via its 

final custody order, and that the court did so without making a detriment 

finding by clear and convincing evidence as required by section 361. Father 

correctly notes that the court had originally released the children to both him

and mother with a “home of parent” order at disposition, but when the court
10

terminated jurisdiction, it made more restrictive orders for father by giving

mother sole physical custody and giving him only monitored visits. Father 

contends the custody order thus constituted an “illegal removal.”

Section 361 requires that “[a] dependent child shall not be taken from 

the physical custody of his or her parents . . . with whom the child did not 

reside at the time the petition was initiated, unless the juvenile court finds 

clear and convincing evidence that there would be a substantial danger to the 

physical health, safety, protection, or physical or emotional well-being of the 

child for the parent . . . to live with the child or otherwise exercise the 

parent’s . . . right to physical custody, and there are no reasonable means by 

which the child’s physical and emotional health can be protected without 

removing the child from the child’s parent’s . . . physical custody.” (§ 361, 

subd. (d); see Cynthia D. v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 242, 248.) 

Contrary to father’s contention, section 361 “does not apply to custody 

and visitation determinations made at a section 364 review hearing 

concurrent with the termination of juvenile court jurisdiction.” (J.M., supra, 

__ Cal.App.5th at p. __ [2023 WL 2443577, p. *12].) “‘To be sure, at the 

disposition stage of a dependency proceeding, a court may not remove a child 

from a parent’s custody and place the child in the custody of [DCFS] unless 

the court finds there is a substantial danger to the child and no available 

services to protect the child absent removal. [Citation.] . . . There is no 

statutory language, however, suggesting this standard be applied when the 

court issues a custody order upon the termination of jurisdiction pursuant to 

section 364. To the contrary, at [the section 364] stage of the proceedings, the 

court must consider the child’s best interest.’” (J.M., at p. __ [2023 WL 

2443577, p. *12], quoting T.S., supra, 52 Cal.App.5th at p. 515.)
11

As previously noted, section 362.4 permits a court terminating its 

jurisdiction at a section 364 hearing to also enter orders “determining the 

custody of, or visitation with, the child” following termination of juvenile 

court jurisdiction. (§ 362.4, subd. (a); In re Roger S. (1992) 4 Cal.App.4th 25, 

30.) “Section 362.4 does not require a finding of detriment under any 

circumstances; as a result, courts have applied the best interest standard in 

determining appropriate custody and visitation exit orders at this stage.” 

(J.M., supra, __ Cal.App.5th at p. __ [2023 WL 2443577, p. *12].) 

Father also argues that a court must issue a custody order that is “in 

line with the previous custody determinations” unless DCFS has filed a 

supplemental petition under section 342 or a subsequent petition under 

section 387.3 This argument is unsupported by any relevant authority. 

Moreover, as discussed above, the issue is not whether a new allegation of 

neglect or abuse has been proved against father, but rather what custody 

arrangement the court views as serving the children’s best interests. 

To the extent father suggests he lacked a full opportunity to challenge 

the custody terms recommended by DCFS, we note that DCFS gave father

clear prior notice of its recommendation to seek a custody order providing 

mother with sole legal and physical custody and limiting father to monitored 

visitation. Father had every opportunity to present evidence at the section 

364 hearing to convince the court that he should maintain joint physical 

3 “A subsequent petition is filed when new, independent allegations of 

dependency can be made after the court has initially declared a minor to be a 

dependent child. (§ 342.) A supplemental petition is filed, inter alia, when a 

dependent child has been placed with a parent, but [DCFS] now seeks to 

remove the child, effectively requesting the court to modify its previous 

placement order. (See § 387, subd. (a).)” (In re Barbara P. (1994) 30 

Cal.App.4th 926, 933.)
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custody or unmonitored visitation. Indeed, father testified at the hearing for 

this purpose.

In sum, a best interests analysis appropriately governed the court’s 

custody determinations in the final custody order. The court was not 

required to make a section 361 detriment finding nor was the court 

prohibited from issuing a custody order without the filing of a supplemental 

or subsequent petition under sections 342 and 387.

Father does not argue that the juvenile court abused its discretion in 

determining the custody order granting sole physical custody to mother and 

monitored visitation for him was in the children’s best interest under section 

362.4. He contends only that the juvenile court failed to present sufficient 

evidence to support “removal” of the children by clear and convincing 

evidence. As discussed above, father relies on a standard that is inapplicable 

to the court’s findings. 

In any event, the juvenile court’s custody orders did not constitute an 

abuse of discretion. The court determined father had failed to comply with 

his case plan that was designed to assist him with his anger management 

issues that brought the children before the dependency court. The court did 

not believe father’s testimony in which he made excuses for his failure to 

complete the required anger management program and individual 

counseling. Rather, the court found father had willfully determined not to do 

them. “As a reviewing court, we have no power to revisit the credibility of [a] 

witness or reweigh the evidence.” (In re Maya L., supra, 232 Cal.App.4th at 

p. 104, fn. 6.) The court further relied on evidence demonstrating that father 

remained unable to control his anger towards the children and continued to 

“verbally terrorize[]” them. We find no abuse of discretion.
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DISPOSITION

The order is affirmed. 

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS

STONE, J.*

We concur:

CURREY, Acting P. J. 

COLLINS, J.

*

Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, assigned by the Chief

Justice pursuant to article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution.