In March 2011, plaintiff Mikayla, 2, was removed from the custody of her mother, a drug abuser, when her mother was arrested for felony burglary. Prior to the arrest, Mikayla’s mother often abandoned Mikayla for weeks at a time, leaving Mikayla with near-strangers while she went on drug binges. As a result, the county of Riverside Department of Public Social Services placed Mikayla in the home of her maternal aunt, Christina Porter, shortly after the arrest. From the time of placement in the Porter home, Mikayla exhibited extreme emotional and behavioral problems, including crying spells, huge meltdowns, pulling her hair out, eating feces, and spreading feces on herself, throughout the house, and on her bedding and toys. Porter, frustrated and overwhelmed by Mikayla’s extreme behaviors, stated that she was not prepared to deal with Mikayla’s behaviors and that she wanted Mikayla out of her home. Consequently, Porter called the county of Riverside hotline and demanded that the county immediately remove Mikayla from her home. Despite Porter’s demands, the county failed to take immediate action and remove Mikayla from the Porter home. Approximately 10 days later, Porter called 9-1-1 and claimed that Mikayla had fallen from her high chair, struck the back of her head on the kitchen floor, lost consciousness, and then began seizing and vomiting. However, there were no witnesses to the incident. Mikayla was immediately airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, in Loma Linda, where doctors suspected that Mikayla’s head were caused by abusive head trauma (i.e. shaken baby syndrome) rather than the alleged fall reported by Porter. Mikayla, through her guardian ad litem, sued the county of Riverside; the county of San Bernardino; Mikayla’s social worker, Mary Whitehall; and Whitehall’s supervisor, Berkeley Edwards. The county of San Bernardino was ultimately dismissed from the case. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that the county of Riverside should have removed Mikayla from Porter’s care once Porter indicated that she no longer wanted Mikayla in her home. Defense counsel asserted that, under Government Code § 820.2, the county of Riverside is immune from liability for all placement decisions, including its original placement of Mikayla in the Porter home and its decision not to remove Mikayla from the Porter home., Mikayla was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where she underwent CT and MRI scans, which showed surface-level blood above the brain, but did not reveal any damage to the brain itself. However, a subsequent magnetic resonance spectroscopy exam suggested diffuse cerebral dysfunction and an ophthalmologic examination revealed that Mikayla suffered bilateral retinal hemorrhages. Thus, it was determined that Mikayla had sustained right frontal lobe brain damage, affecting her judgment, safety awareness, impulsivity, and executive functioning. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Mikayla’s future damages exceeded $1 million and would include follow-up medical care, counseling, and therapy. Defense counsel asserted that Mikayla’s , if any, were caused either by an accidental fall from a high chair or by Porter herself, but not from any act or omission on the part of the county. Counsel also asserted that any damages Mikayla suffered were the result of her poor background and upbringing, including prior mental and emotional abuse, and abandonment suffered at the hands of her biological mother, and were not the result of shaken baby syndrome or any head trauma.