Opinion ID: 1995678
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Limited and Inconsistent Contact with the Child

Text: [¶ 16] Contrary to the father's contention, the record contains significant evidence supporting the court's conclusion that the father had had limited and inconsistent contact with Jewel. The father stopped seeing Jewel sometime around Christmas 2007 and did not resume visitation with her until August 2008. Although the father enjoyed substantial contact with Jewel for a six-week period in August and September 2008, the record establishes that he did not visit with Jewel again after this six-week period until a visitation schedule was established, as memorialized in a court order dated April 1, 2009. Additionally, the GAL reported that Jewel's therapist still has questions about if [the father] can commit long term and [i]f [the child] is rushed in her placement with [the father], [she] will go quiet and will be retraumatized and . . . will continue to live in fear. Thus, the therapist recommended a slow and steady transition to [the] father's home due to these concerns. In its decision, the court cited the therapist's opinion that a sudden shift to residence with [the father] would be traumatic to Jewel. The court's findings that the father had had limited and inconsistent contact with Jewel and that a sudden shift in her residence would be traumatic for her were not erroneous, and these findings, in and of themselves, were a sufficient basis for the court to order that the guardianship be extended to allow Jewel's placement to be transferred in a safe and reasonable fashion.