In re Jodi B.
- Reporters:
- ,
- Before:
- Premo, Agliano, Cottle
PREMO, J.
In this appeal a stepparent seeks to challenge a permanency planning order by the juvenile court (
BACKGROUND
Jodi B., age 12 at the time of the order, is the oldest of 4 children. Their mother, Dianna P., is not a party to this appeal. Appellant James P. is the natural father of only the three younger children, Jamie, Brandi, and Cathy; however, Jodi has lived with him and Dianna since her birth.
The minors were all made dependents of the court in November 1987, after the court sustained a petition alleging extreme family conflict and previous sexual molestation of the three older children. A service plan for appellant and Dianna required them to engage in individual and marital psychotherapy, successfully complete a parenting class, secure stable employment, maintain a home in the same location for at least six months, visit at least weekly with the children, and refrain from alcohol and drug use. In addition, they were ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation, which concluded that “neither James nor Dianna [P.] has the capacity or the emotional stability to effectively parent these children.”
In May 1988, dependency was continued and a second psychological evaluation was ordered to determine whether either Dianna or appellant was capable of parenting appropriately. That question was answered in the negative for both parents in a report submitted in August 1988. Accordingly, it was recommended that the children not be returned to the custody of either Dianna or James. A separate assessment of Jodi resulted in a recommendation of long-term foster care for her.
In May and June 1989, the court held a permanency planning hearing regarding all four children. The court heard testimony from the social worker, the three older children, three psychologists who had examined the P.‘s, the minors’ child advocate, and appellant. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court found that return of the children to the P.‘s would be detrimental to their physical and emotional well-being. In particular, the court found: “First, that the plans for reunification that have been set up and have been attempted have failed; that the parents do not have the ability or the capacity to parent these children and will not have the ability and capacity in the future; that because of the children‘s background and upbringing, they are special-needs children and that continued attempts at
Appellant filed an appeal of these orders as to all four children, claiming inadequate reunification services. As to Brandi, Jamie, and Cathy, this court dismissed the appeal on August 14, 1990, pursuant to
DISCUSSION
(1a) Appellant‘s primary contention on appeal is that inadequate reunification services were provided to him and Dianna. Before we can reach this issue, however, we must consider the threshold question of whether appellant, as Jodi‘s stepfather, had a right to such services in the first place.
Respondent minor, joined by the chief probation officer, argues that the juvenile court lacked authority to order reunification services for appellant since he is not Jodi‘s parent and has no right to custody of the minor for purposes of juvenile dependency proceedings. Respondents point out that the purpose of such services is to facilitate return of custody to a “parent or guardian” of the minor. (
Appellant responds that he is Jodi‘s parent, as that term is “commonly understood,” by virtue of a parent-child relationship “by affinity.”2 Appellant further argues, citing In re Venus B. (1990) 222 Cal. App.3d 931 [272 Cal. Rptr. 115], that he is a “relative” within the meaning of
Subject to certain exceptions enumerated in
Clearly the purpose of reunification services is to facilitate the return of a dependent child to parental custody. If appellant, as a stepparent, is not a “parent” within the meaning of these provisions, then the legislative objective of returning the minor to parental custody has no application to him, and a requirement that child welfare services be provided to him would serve no purpose.4 We therefore must consider whether appellant, the minor‘s stepfather, is a “parent” within the meaning of California‘s juvenile dependency law.
The dependency provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code do not define “parent” or “parental custody.” Black‘s Law Dictionary (6th ed. 1990) page 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. (See, e.g.,
Other statutes provide different degrees of restrictiveness depending on their purposes.
Certain sections of the Educational Code also reach a broader class of persons referred to as “parent.” (E.g.,
These sections illustrate the Legislature‘s practice of specifying the intended meaning of “parent” and “child” when it wishes to enlarge or
The policies underlying child protection statutes support such an interpretation. As our Supreme Court has stated in the context of parental termination proceedings, “`The relationship of natural parent ... [and] children is a vital human relationship which has far-reaching implications for the growth and development of the child.... Thus, the involuntary termination of that relationship by state action must be viewed as a drastic remedy which should be resorted to only in extreme cases of neglect or abandonment.‘” (In re Carmaleta B. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 482, 489 [146 Cal. Rptr. 623, 579 P.2d 514], italics added.) “[T]he very essence of the proceeding is the complete and final legal termination of a relationship which is biological in nature and most personal in form.” (In re Angelia P. (1981) 28 Cal.3d 908, 915-916 [171 Cal. Rptr. 637, 623 P.2d 198].) Thus, the parental rights that receive protection in this state are derived from judicial recognition of “natural familial relationships.” (Id. at p. 916.)
Likewise, adopted children and their adoptive parents are considered by law to bear “the legal relation of parent and child, and have all the rights and be subject to all the duties of that relation.” (
(4) The status of stepparent arises solely as a result of the marriage of that person to the natural parent. (Adoption of Bird (1960) 183 Cal. App.2d 140, 147 [6 Cal. Rptr. 675].) A stepparent bears no legal obligation to contribute directly to the support of the child (see former
In short, we conclude that a stepparent is not a “parent” for purposes of reunification of a child removed from the home in the course of
In so holding, we express no opinion of the result reached in In re Venus B., supra, on which appellant relies.5 That case concerned the question of whether, pursuant to
Our holding should not be interpreted to suggest that stepparent participation in reunification services is of no value. Indeed, it should be self-evident that where the stepparent lives with the natural parent, stepparent participation may be critical to accomplish the goal of alleviating the conditions that led to removal of the child and returning him or her to the family unit. The right to seek the child‘s return, however, belongs to the parent alone, not to his or her spouse.
Because appellant had no individual right to seek reunification with Jodi, the juvenile court was under no duty to afford him services to facilitate
DISPOSITION
The appeal is dismissed.
Agliano, P.J., and Cottle, J., concurred.
Appellant‘s petition for review by the Supreme Court was denied April 11, 1991.