In Re Mario C.
ELIA, J.
Karen J. appeals an order terminating her parental rights to her children, Mario C. and Trisha C., under Civil Code1
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Mario C., was born on September 13, 1980; Trisha C. was born on October 27, 1982. They are the youngest of appellant‘s five children, all of whom have been or currently are dependents of the Monterey County Juvenile Court. Appellant‘s daughter Tabatha A. was ultimately freed for adoption in 1977; her daughter Michelle A.‘s dependency was terminated when, at the age of 14, she married and had a child; James A. is in long-term foster care.
James, Mario and Trisha were taken into protective custody on March 17, 1988, after they had been left outside their home without adult supervision for several hours. They were made dependents of the juvenile court on May 3, 1988. Appellant signed a one-page reunification service agreement but refused to sign the longer one which had been prepared for her. She also refused referrals to the Family Resource Center and County Mental Health. The primary tasks of the full reunification service agreement were to begin drug counseling and to continue in therapy. Appellant ultimately signed this agreement on October 15, 1988.
A six-month review hearing was conducted on November 1, 1988.
A 12-month review and permanency planning hearing was conducted on May 2, 1989. As a result of this hearing, the case was referred for the initiation of proceedings to terminate appellant‘s and the children‘s father‘s parental rights under
A petition was filed under
I. Clear and Convincing Evidence
(1a) Appellant first argues that clear and convincing evidence does not support the court‘s finding that it would be detrimental to return the children
Appellant misapprehends the burden on petitioner. (2) It must establish by clear and convincing evidence (In re Angelia P. (1981) 28 Cal.3d 908, 924 [171 Cal. Rptr. 637, 623 P.2d 198]), inter alia, that it would be detrimental to return the children to their parents’ custody. (1b) The evidence in support of the trial court‘s determination on this issue included both reports and testimony by the various social workers which chronicled the department‘s involvement with appellant as far back as 1971; the extensive referrals for neglect and abuse of her children over the preceding 17-year-period, a 10-year-old psychological evaluation which diagnosed appellant‘s problems as a lack of mental and psychological maturity, and the many failed attempts to have appellant become involved in counseling.
The
We have no difficulty concluding, on this record, that clear and convincing evidence supports the trial court‘s determination that it would have been detrimental to return Mario and Trisha to appellant‘s custody.
II. Reunification Services
(4) Appellant contends that the majority of the provisions in the service agreement were not designed to remedy her barriers to parenting, and that this service plan was similar to others which had been unsuccessful in reuniting her with her other children. She argues that, like the mother in Victoria M., supra, she was provided no assistance related to the problems which led to her children‘s dependency.
We have reviewed the entire record, and find appellant‘s argument unavailing. The record reveals that she has been offered or received a veritable plethora of services since 1971, including instruction in homemaking, parent education, individual and family counseling, psychological and psychiatric counseling, drug and alcohol counseling, and housing referral and counseling. The reunification service agreement designed to overcome the problems which led to Mario and Trisha‘s dependency included the obligation to visit regularly with the children, to receive an alcohol/drug evaluation and referral for treatment, to attend counseling on a weekly basis, to maintain clean housing, and to abstain from criminal activity. Appellant was also counseled regarding job training and employment and was offered transportion to various appointments. Dr. Reidy testified that in his opinion, the service agreement was adequate.
Appellant failed to make any significant progress toward reunification, however. She was jailed for prostitution during the course of the children‘s dependency; admitted to using cocaine for six months after they were placed in protective custody; refused referrals to counseling and saw a counselor only for a few months between March 1988 and November 1989. She failed to follow through on a drug evaluation referral. Her housing was inadequate. She visited Mario and Trisha only twice between March and August 1988. She then saw them on a biweekly basis until Christmas, when she injured Trisha on a visit and visitation was suspended. She was uncooperative in her psychological evaluation, and, according to Dr. Reidy, “felt she could handle her own problems, and really didn‘t need [therapy].”
Appellant has two additional specific complaints about the reunification process. The first is that as a precondition to visitation and counseling, her
While we do not condone the social worker‘s conditioning visitation on appellant‘s taking Elavil without a court order supported by competent evidence that visitation would be detrimental without it, we are not persuaded that either this requirement or the August 1988 discussions had a significant negative effect on appellant‘s ability to reunify with her children. We are satisfied that the reunification service plan was a good faith effort on behalf of respondent. (Cf. In re John B., supra, 159 Cal. App.3d at p. 275.) We conclude, in sum, that the record discloses substantial evidence that reasonable services, designed to aid appellant in overcoming the problems which led to the loss of custody, were provided or offered her. (In re Robert J. (1982) 129 Cal. App.3d 894, 901 [181 Cal.Rptr 188];
III. Appointment of Counsel for the Minors
Neither in the minute orders nor in the reporter‘s transcript is there any indication that the court considered appointing separate counsel to represent
We disagree with the view expressed by other courts that
A court‘s failure to make this determination does not automatically result in reversal, however. In Richard E., although the record disclosed no evidence that the trial court had considered the need for independent counsel for the minor, the court held that the error was not reversible absent a showing of prejudice. Nothing in the language of present
We are not unsympathetic to appellant‘s suggestion that counsel for the petitioner in a termination hearing may not be in the best position to
Such a plan presupposes that it is generally in the best interests of children who cannot be reunified with their parents to move on to another permanent home. Whether such a course is in a particular child‘s best interests, however, is a matter which may be the subject of dispute in individual proceedings. We share appellant‘s concern with any assumption that petitioner is necessarily in the best position to make that determination.
This is not a case, like In re Melicia L., supra, 207 Cal. App.3d at pages 54-55, however, where the only child of several dependent siblings who had not been sexually abused was freed for adoption, and where no consideration was given to whether the child‘s developmental delays would have been better treated through the preservation of family ties. Psychological evaluations had been performed on both Mario and Trisha by Dr. Reidy, and both children had been interviewed by the social worker who prepared the
Appellant contends, however, that allegations of abuse levelled against one of Trisha‘s foster families indicated respondent‘s failure to protect the children while in its care. She suggests this created a conflict of interest which made it inappropriate for respondent to represent the children. We disagree. While we abhor the fact that Trisha, who had already suffered so much, may have been the victim of sexual abuse while in foster care, we do not think this fact automatically disqualifies respondent from adequately representing the children‘s interests in the termination proceeding. There was no indication here that either Trisha or Mario had any interest in
We are satisfied on this record that respondent adequately represented the best interests of the children in this proceeding. We therefore conclude that appellant has failed to demonstrate that Mario and Trisha were prejudiced by the trial court‘s failure to comply with
The trial court‘s order is affirmed.
Capaccioli, Acting P.J., and Bamattre-Manoukian, J., concurred.