In Re Angel B.

118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 482, 97 Cal. App. 4th 454
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 4, 2002
DocketB150872, B152814
StatusPublished
Cited by433 cases

This text of 118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 482 (In Re Angel B.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Angel B., 118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 482, 97 Cal. App. 4th 454 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

118 Cal.Rptr.2d 482 (2002)
97 Cal.App.4th 454

In re ANGEL B., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law.
Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Teia Z., Defendant and Appellant.

Nos. B150872, B152814.

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Three.

April 4, 2002.

*485 Steven D. Schatz, Fountain Valley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Lloyd W. Pellman, County Counsel, and Angela Williams, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

CROSKEY, Acting P.J.

Teia Z. (Mother) appeals from two orders of the juvenile court. One order, entered nunc pro tunc on May 30, 2001 (the nunc pro tunc order itself was made on July 31, 2001) denied her Welfare & Institutions Code section 388 petition,[1] and on August 8, 2001, the juvenile court terminated Mother's parental rights to Angel B. (Angel). Mother appealed from both orders, and those appeals were consolidated on October 4, 2001 for resolution here.

*486 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND[2]

Mother gave birth to Angel in June 2000; thus, Angel will be two years old in June 2002. Angel was born exposed to cocaine and amphetamines, and Mother admitted using drugs shortly before Angel's birth, which she acknowledged was a bad thing to have done. Angel never lived with Mother, but was detained while in the hospital, and then promptly placed in foster care with a potential adoptive family.

Two years earlier, in November 1998, Mother had given birth to Robert, who was also born exposed to amphetamines and methamphetamines. Robert had been declared a dependent of the juvenile court, and Mother had failed to reunify with him. Many years earlier, Mother had also lost custody of this first child. As to Robert, he had been placed with a foster family that wanted to adopt him, and Angel, too, was placed with this same family with the plan that she would be adopted along with Robert. In addition to Robert and Angel, the foster family had two biological children and a sibling set of children who the foster family had already adopted.

Mother had a long history of drug abuse, having begun using at the age of thirteen. By 2000, she was 35 years old, and had tried to rehabilitate herself, without permanent success, on a number of occasions.

Mother was granted monitored visitation with Angel. She appeared for only some of the scheduled visits. She also failed to appear at several of the earliest court hearings. The juvenile court ordered that Mother not receive any reunification services pursuant to section 361.5, subdivision (b)(10), because Robert had been ordered into permanent planning rather than reunited with Mother.

Despite these problems, Mother did begin to do better. She enrolled in a residential drug treatment program, consistently tested clean for four months, completed various classes, and even obtained employment. She had regular visits with Angel, which went well. As a result, she petitioned the juvenile court pursuant to section 388 to either grant her supervised custody of Angel, or grant her reunification services. Her petition was summarily denied without an evidentiary hearing, and thereafter her parental rights were terminated. She appeals from both orders.

CONTENTIONS ON APPEAL

Mother contends that the juvenile court (1) violated her constitutional right to due process by refusing to hold a hearing on her section 388 petition; (2) erred by failing to grant her either supervised custody of Angel or reunification services; and (3) erred by finding that her relationship with Angel did not meet the requirements of the exception to termination of parental rights in section 366.26, subdivision (c)(1)(A). The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) disputes these contentions.

DISCUSSION

1. The Juvenile Court Did Not Violate Mother's Constitutional Rights By Refusing to Grant Her a Hearing on Her Section 388 Petition, Nor Did It Err by Refusing to Grant Her Either Supervised Custody Or Reunification Services

Mother first contends that the juvenile court violated her constitutional *487 rights by denying her request for a hearing on her section 388 petition, and further contends that, in fact, the juvenile court should have granted her either supervised custody or reunification services. In fact, the juvenile court not only denied her an evidentiary hearing, but also summarily denied the petition.[3] We review such a summary denial for abuse of discretion (In re Anthony W. (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 246, 250, 104 Cal.Rptr.2d 422), and resolve the constitutional issue as a matter of law.

Section 388 provides, in relevant part, "(a) Any parent or other person having an interest in a child who is a dependent child of the juvenile court ... may, upon grounds of change of circumstance or new evidence, petition the court in the same action in which the child was found to be a dependent child of the juvenile court .. . for a hearing to change, modify, or set aside any order of court previously made or to terminate the jurisdiction of the court. The petition shall ... set forth in concise language any change of circumstance or new evidence which are alleged to require the change of order or termination of jurisdiction.... (c) If it appears that the best interests of the child may be promoted by the proposed change of order, . .., the court shall order that a hearing be held and shall give prior notice, ..." (Italics added.)

A petition under this section must be liberally construed in favor of its sufficiency. (Cal.Rules of Court, Rule 1432(a).) Thus, if the petition presents any evidence that a hearing would promote the best interests of the child, the court must order the hearing. (In re Aljamie D. (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 424, 431-432, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 811.) The court may deny the application ex parte only if the petition fails to state a change of circumstance or new evidence that even might require a change of order or termination of jurisdiction. (Cal.Rules of Court, Rule 1432(b); In re Aljamie D., supra, 84 Cal.App.4th at pp. 431-32, 100 Cal.Rptr.2d 811.)

As Mother herself concedes, this statutory scheme itself is constitutional because of its many safeguards. One such safeguard, as she acknowledges, is that if a parent makes a prima facie showing of a change of circumstance such that a proposed change in custody might be in the child's best interest, then the juvenile court must hold a hearing. Thus, the real issue here is not whether this statutory scheme is constitutional, but whether Mother made the requisite prima facie showing; if she did, then we shall simply reverse and direct the juvenile court to hold the hearing due process does require.

Whether Mother made a prima facie showing entitling her to a hearing depends on the facts alleged in her petition, as well as the facts established as without dispute by the court's own file (for example, Angel's age, the nature of her existing placement, and the time she came into care as a dependent child). The facts alleged in Mother's petition are set out in a declaration *488 from Mother, a letter from Mother, a letter from Bonnie Brown (a family friend whose relationship with Mother was that of a "second mother"), and a letter from Cri-Help (the residential drug rehabilitation program in which Mother was enrolled).

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Bluebook (online)
118 Cal. Rptr. 2d 482, 97 Cal. App. 4th 454, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-angel-b-calctapp-2002.