San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Paul D.

8 Cal. App. 4th 964, 92 Daily Journal DAR 11657, 92 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7243, 11 Cal. Rptr. 2d 414, 1992 Cal. App. LEXIS 1026
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 28, 1992
DocketNo. D015743
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 8 Cal. App. 4th 964 (San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Paul D.) 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.

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San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Paul D., 8 Cal. App. 4th 964, 92 Daily Journal DAR 11657, 92 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7243, 11 Cal. Rptr. 2d 414, 1992 Cal. App. LEXIS 1026 (Cal. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Opinion

KREMER, P. J.

Paul D., the biological father of Sarah C., appeals orders denying his Welfare and Institutions Code1 section 388 motion and terminating his parental rights pursuant to section 366.26. On appeal, Paul contends he should have been considered Sarah’s presumed father, the court erred in finding the department of social services (Department) used due diligence to locate him, the court erred in denying him reunification services and erred in applying an improper legal standard. We affirm.

Facts

In June 1987, while he was in the Navy, Paul met Sarah’s mother, Dawn C. Dawn was then married to Mr. C. who was also in the Navy. Around December 1987, Dawn told Paul she was pregnant with his child. Paul did not offer to help" Dawn with her pregnancy in any way.

Sarah was born in September 1988. Dawn named Mr. C. as Sarah’s father on the birth certificate because she did not want him to know Paul was Sarah’s father. Mr. C. believed Sarah was his daughter until shortly before a hearing in September 1991.

In late 1988, Paul moved in with Dawn and Sarah who were staying at a friend’s house. Dawn testified the relationship was “kind of casual.” Paul testified he never discussed the possibility of a future relationship with Dawn because she was married. Paul lived in the house with Dawn and Sarah for a few months until he was arrested for being absent without leave. During those months, he fed Sarah, changed her diapers and played with her. He felt very close to her. He testified he told a few friends that Sarah was his child. He did not, however, generally contribute money towards the rent or to support either Sarah or her mother. Only one time did he contribute any money and that was when Dawn failed to receive money from Mr. C. Paul did not attempt to have himself named Sarah’s father on her birth certificate or complete any paperwork with the Navy to have Sarah named a beneficiary on insurance or a dependent.

[970]*970After Paul was released by the Navy in April 1989, Paul attempted to find Dawn and Sarah but they had moved. He spent part of one day driving around looking for them. Later that day he left for his home in Massachusetts. He asked a friend to keep a lookout for them.

Over the years, Paul’s only efforts to find his daughter consisted of talking to his friend in San Diego. Paul never tried to find Dawn and Sarah through the Department although he knew Dawn’s three other children were all in foster homes due to petitions filed by the Department. He never contacted Dawn’s mother in Long Beach to try to find Sarah.2 Paul never asked his father, an ex-police officer, for help in finding Sarah nor did he contact San Diego law enforcement authorities.

In June 1989, the Department filed a petition under section 300, subdivision (b) on Sarah’s behalf alleging Sarah was not being provided with adequate medical care and was at risk due to Dawn’s abuse of methamphetamine. Dawn told the social worker Mr. C. was Sarah’s father. The court, assuming Mr. C. was Sarah’s father, declared Sarah a dependent child of the juvenile court and placed her in foster care.

Sometime later, Dawn informed the social worker that Paul was Sarah’s father. Dawn had no information on the correct spelling of Paul’s last name, his date of birth, address, social security number or work place. The Department initiated a search for Paul on June 25, 1989 but the Parent Search Unit was unable to find Paul due to the lack of information. The Department initiated another search on November 29, 1989, using a possible date of birth suggested by Dawn and numerous alternate spellings of Paul’s last name, none of which were correct. In February 1990, the Navy returned the Department’s request because of the. lack of sufficient information.

In May 1990, Dawn visited Paul’s friend in San Diego. She told him Sarah was in foster care. During a telephone conversation with Paul, the friend told Paul about the visit with Dawn. Paul did not seem surprised Sarah was in a foster home. The friend believed Paul “must have already known that Sarah was . . . in a foster home.”

The Department initiated a third search for Paul in July 1990. The Department checked records of the welfare department, probation department, local law enforcement, records in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and the local phone directory. As a result of this search the Department learned [971]*971Paul had been jailed in May 1987 and released to a Navy ship, but the Department did not obtain a civilian address.

In July 1990, the court terminated the reunification services to the parents and ordered a section 366.26 permanency planning hearing be held in November 1990.

In October 1990, the Department found the father by using a Navy Locator phone number. On October 25, 1990, Paul wrote a letter to the court stating he wished to establish his parental rights as Sarah’s father and requesting an attorney be appointed to represent him.

The November 1990 permanency planning hearing was continued to allow for proper notice to the parents. In December 1990, the court ordered paternity testing. The tests showed a 99.97 percent probability Paul fathered Sarah.

On March 7, 1991, the court ordered reunification services for Paul, but rescinded its order on March 20, 1991.

On June 7, the court continued the section 366.26 hearing because the court wanted briefing on the paternity issue. Also on June 7, Paul filed a motion under section 388 seeking to modify the court’s July 1990 order terminating reunification services and continuing Sarah in a confidential foster home.

In September 1991, the court conducted the hearing on Paul’s section 388 motion and a section 366.26 permanency planning hearing. The court denied Paul’s motion, found clear and convincing evidence to support a finding Sarah was adoptable and terminated his parental rights.

Discussion

I

Presumed Father Status

Paul contends the court erred in not presuming him to be Sarah’s natural father pursuant to Civil Code section 7004, subdivision (a)(4).

Notice of a dependency proceeding must be given to “both parents and any guardian of the minor.” (§§ 332, 335, subd. (a).)

“The dependency provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code do not define ‘parent’ or ‘parental custody.’ Black’s Law Dictionary (6th ed. 1990) [972]*972page 1114, defines a ‘parent’ as ‘[t]he lawful father or mother of a person.’ The term includes the natural mother and father of a child born of their marriage, an adoptive father or mother, a natural mother of an illegitimate child, and, under some circumstances, a father of an illegitimate child if the status of father has been judicially conferred upon him. [Citation.]

“[I]n using the word ‘parent’ the Legislature intended to refer to a person upon whom that status has been legally conferred—that is, a natural or adoptive parent.” (In re Jodi B. (1991) 227 Cal.App.3d 1322, 1326, 1328 [278 Cal.Rptr. 242].)

The “legally conferred” status of a father is set forth in Civil Code section 7004 which provides when a man will be regarded as a child’s “presumed father.” “The statutory purpose [of Civil Code section 7004] is to distinguish between those fathers who have entered into some familial relationship with the mother and child and those who have not.

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8 Cal. App. 4th 964, 92 Daily Journal DAR 11657, 92 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 7243, 11 Cal. Rptr. 2d 414, 1992 Cal. App. LEXIS 1026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-diego-county-department-of-social-services-v-paul-d-calctapp-1992.