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Name: San Diego County v. Jorge C.
Case #: D045073
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 1
Opinion Date: 06/28/2005
Summary

California did not have subject matter jurisdiction over a dependency matter where both parents and the minor were foreign nationals. The minor was brought to Sacramento to be cared for at Shriners’ Hospital. The Department’s petition alleged that the minor could not be properly cared for in Tijuana, and possibly in Mexico. The parents agreed to the Department taking jurisdiction. Neither parent withheld medical treatment or neglected the minor, and at the time the petition was filed, the minor was receiving appropriate medical care. The Department filed the petition in an attempt to shift the responsibility for the medical care of the minor, a foreign national, from her parents and their home state, to the State of California and its taxpayers. Although the court found it commendable that the Shriners’ Hospital assumed the financial burden of the medical care of the minor, the juvenile court could not be used in that manner. A child who is a foreign national cannot be made the subject of California dependency law because California has better medical care. Therefore, all the orders were reversed with directions to dismiss the dependency action.