In Re Michael S.
HAMLIN, J.
Mardell Y., the mother of three dependent children, Michael S., Latasha S., and Julise J. (collectively the minors), appeals from the dispositional order of the Juvenile Court of Kings County following a hearing on a supplemental petition filed in that court under
Procedural and Factual Background
On June 30, 1983, petitions were filed in the Juvenile Court of Stanislaus County alleging the minors came within the provisions of
Following a dispositional hearing on September 15, 1983, the Tulare County Juvenile Court adjudged the minors dependent children of the court and removed Michael from his mother‘s custody. The court‘s order incorporated the reunification plan recommended by the social worker. That plan provided: “Latasha and Julise are placed with the mother already. Michael is placed with the maternal grandparents. It is not considered to be in his best interest to be placed in the home of his mother.
“In order to have the minors returned to her, the mother must do the following things:
“1. Keep the social worker informed at all times of her whereabouts and of significant changes in circumstances within the family.
“2. Maintain regular visitation with Michael. Mother may make own visitation arrangements with the grandparents. Visitation is to be supervised at the discretion and direction of the social worker so that interaction with the mother may be observed.
“4. Mother must enter and complete a program of personal counseling aimed at resolving her conflicts and learning better ways to handle her anger. She may make her own arrangements or the social worker will make a referral and arrange the first appointment. If she chooses to make her own arrangements she must make an appointment and notify the social worker of the appointment within two (2) weeks of this hearing date. She is not to miss more than two (2) appointments in six (6) months without a valid excuse approved by the social worker. Transportation is her own responsibility. She is to sign a consent authorizing exchange of information with the therapist.
“5. Mother must be cooperative with the social worker and Child Protective Services. She is not to be abusive to the social worker.
“The parents are hereby notified that if they do not cooperate in the reunification plan they could lose custody of their children permanently.”
A six-month-review hearing was held on March 16, 1984. The social work report prepared for that hearing indicated the social worker observed Latasha and Julise in six home visits with their mother. The appearance and actions of both girls suggested they were receiving appropriate care. As to mother‘s compliance with the reunification plan, the report noted that she had kept the agency informed of her whereabouts and had frequently visited with Michael. However, mother had attended only two of eight parenting class sessions as the result of being “hindered by Court appearances in Stanislaus County and the sentence served in January.” The mother had had several sessions with a counselor at Kings View Mental Health Services, and Michael had gone with her to two of the sessions. Her cooperation with the social worker was described as “very satisfactory.” The mother advised she had enrolled in classes in (1) child development and (2) marriage and family at the College of the Sequoias. The report recommended that Michael be returned to his mother‘s physical custody but that all minors be readjudged dependents of the juvenile court. The mother and Michael were to continue mental health counseling, and the mother was either to complete the college courses in which she was enrolled or to complete the parenting classes as originally recommended. Neither adoption nor legal guardianship was considered since “reunification is the plan of choice.” An order of the juvenile court was entered accordingly.
A “supplemental” petition was filed in Kings County on September 11, 1984, alleging the minors were persons described by
A supplemental social work report was filed on September 27, 1984, and in describing the hearing for which it was prepared, the social worker stated, “Proposed acceptance of case on transfer from Tulare County Juvenile Court. Dispositional Hearing on Supplemental Petition. Permanency Planning Hearing for the minors.” In her evaluation of the case, social worker Margerene Wilcots stated in part: “The minors have been dependent children of the Court for fourteen (14) months. The reunification recommendations have not been followed through. With the new allegations of sexual abuse and medical evidence to support the allegation, it appears the minors are at greater risk than they were at the time of the initial petition. [Mother] is currently incarcerated in Kings County Jail on charges of child abuse. It seems unlikely that reunification can be affected [sic] in the next six months, therefore it is recommended that a Permanency Planning Hearing be held at this time pursuant to Section 366.25 of the W&I Code.
“2. all reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the children from their home and to make it possible for the children to return to their home;
“3. the Court finds a substantial risk of detriment to the physical or emotional wellbeing of minors exists if returned to the parents;
“4. the Court finds there is no substantial probability that the minors can safely be returned to their parents within six months;
“5. minors continue in foster care;
“6. the Court finds that the parents have not fully cooperated in the services provided and ordered and finds that no further services toward reunification would be appropriate;
“7. the Court orders Permanency Planning for the minors;
“.... .... .... .... ....”
Following numerous continuances granted for a variety of reasons, a contested jurisdictional hearing was finally held on March 29, 1985. With respect to Derrick J., father of Julise J. and “stepfather” of Michael S. and Latasha S., the court made the necessary jurisdictional finding that the minors were persons described by
The hearing was then continued to April 4, at which time the mother admitted allegations of the petition as amended. The amended petition merely alleged that the minors “were placed in a position to be physically abused by their mother MARDELL [Y.] living with [DERRICK J.]; that MARDELL
Again, numerous continuances intervened, and a contested dispositional hearing began on September 19, 1985. On September 27, the court made the following pertinent findings:
“(X) Remain a dependent child of the Court under care, custody and control of the Department of Social Services.
“.... .... .... .... ....
“(X) All reasonable efforts have been made to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from his or her home and to make it possible for the child to return to his or her home.
“(X) The Court finds a substantial risk of detriment to the physical or emotional wellbeing of minor exists if returned to the parents.
“(X) The court finds there is no substantial probability that the minor(s) can safely be returned to their parents within six months.
“(X) Minor(s) continue in foster care.
“(X) The Court finds that the parents have not fully cooperated in the services provided and ordered and finds that no further services toward reunification would be appropriate.
“(X) The Court orders Permanency Planning for the minor(s).
“(X) The Court orders case plan.
“.... .... .... .... ....”
Discussion
Whether the Kings County Juvenile Court committed reversible error in failing to order further reunification services as part of the dispositional
(1a) Mother argues, and counsel for the minors concurs, that
(3) Nevertheless, it is equally well settled, and clearly a matter of common sense, that a reunification plan “must be appropriate for each family and be based on the unique facts relating to that family.” (In re Edward C. (1981) 126 Cal. App.3d 193, 205 [178 Cal. Rptr. 694].) Thus, when a petition is brought to modify a prior juvenile court order by removing a dependent child from parental custody, it is self-evident there is a history of that particular family‘s involvement with the department of social services, child protective services and/or other appropriate agencies which should be taken into consideration in formulating a reunification plan particularized to that family. It would be unrealistic under the circumstances of a
Here, the mother lost physical custody of Michael following a jurisdictional finding that Michael was a person described by
Following the six-month-review hearing on March 16, 1984, the court ordered that Michael be returned to the physical custody of mother, but dependency was continued based on mother‘s failure to comply with the reunification plan insofar as she had not completed the requisite parenting classes. Thus, when the allegations that Michael had been sexually abused surfaced in July 1984, a supplemental petition pursuant to
(2b) We believe it is more reasonable to construe these statutes and rules as mandating the court to formulate and order an adequate reunification plan only in the first instance, i.e., in the initial disposition on a
Our conclusion is consistent with newly enacted additions and amendments to the Civil Code and the Welfare and Institutions Code, effective January 1, 1987, which reflect legislative recognition that a minor, already a dependent child and subject to the supervision of the juvenile court, must be considered in light of his or her particular circumstances, including prior efforts at reunification, when the minor appears before the court on a supplemental
(4) Moreover, decisional law makes clear that the juvenile court may consider services rendered to and efforts made in connection with dependent siblings when deciding the appropriate disposition for a dependent child of the juvenile court. (See, e.g., In re Michael S. (1981) 127 Cal. App.3d 348, 357-359 [178 Cal. Rptr. 546]; In re Edward C., supra, 126 Cal. App.3d 193.) We can conceive of no legally compelling reason why this same reasoning should not apply when a court must make sequential dispositional orders affecting the same child.
(5), (6) The petition filed on September 11, 1984, in the Kings County Juvenile Court underlying the dispositional order from which mother now appeals is denominated “Supplemental.” However, that petition alleges jurisdictional facts in the language of an original proceeding under
The September 27, 1985, dispositional order modified the March 16, 1984, order of the Tulare County Juvenile Court that Michael be returned
Mother contends the social worker was incorrect in taking the position that under
Factually, Kathy Guerra, the social worker who testified at the September 1985 dispositional hearing, made clear that the Kings County Department of Social Services had never formulated a reunification plan. Nevertheless, it is apparent from the context of Guerra‘s testimony that aspects of the reunification plan which had been put in place by the Tulare County Juvenile Court were still operative and compliance was encouraged by the Kings County Department of Social Services. Guerra testified that mother had had numerous visits with her children, and, more importantly, that Guerra had tried to direct her into available parenting classes.
(8) With respect to Michael, then, who had been adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court on September 29, 1983, and for whom reunification services had then been ordered,
Approximately nine months of reunification services had been provided to mother when, in July 1984, Michael was again removed from her physical custody because of renewed allegations of abuse. Moreover, the record suggests that even after Michael‘s second detention and the transfer of the case to Kings County, where mother was residing, in September 1984, mother continued to receive some help from the Kings County Department of Social Services directed toward the reunification plan which had been formulated in Tulare County and which was still in effect since Michael was still a dependent child of the juvenile court. As the social worker testified, these services consisted of arranged visits with Michael (as well as his sisters) and somewhat limited direction to appropriate local counseling services.
(1b) However, the record makes equally clear that from the inception of proceedings in Kings County, the focus of the social services department was, if not immediate termination of mother‘s parental rights, at least initiation of permanency planning, including assessment of adoptability, with no further provision of services whatsoever to mother. This is the recommendation reflected in the first social work report prepared by the Kings County Department of Social Services in September 1984. While as to Michael, at least, permanency planning was legally required based solely on passage of time, we cannot ignore the six-month-review report prepared in March 1984 by the Tulare County Department of Public Social Services. That report, based on an ongoing working relationship with the mother, reflected compliance with the existing reunification plan in all aspects but one, and as to that element, completion of parenting classes, the Tulare County Juvenile Court was persuaded to substitute the mother‘s completion of comparable junior college classes. Moreover, mother‘s cooperation with the Tulare County Department of Public Social Services was described as “very satisfactory.”
It requires little speculation to observe that something happened between March 1984 and July 1984, when the minors were detained, to disrupt the mother‘s apparently sincere efforts to maintain her family and to comply
Of course, the Kings County Department of Social Services had to consider the circumstances immediately surrounding the detention of the minors in preparing its report to the juvenile court, and we do not question the seriousness of these circumstances. At that time mother was in jail on charges of child abuse based on evidence the children had been sexually molested by mother‘s boyfriend (and the natural father of Julise) and statements allegedly made by the minors that mother had knowingly permitted the abuse or had actually participated in it. However, these allegations were simply that — at the time the social work report was prepared mother had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing with respect to the minors. Moreover, even allegations as serious as these would not sustain taking physical custody of the minors from the mother unless the juvenile court found them true by clear and convincing evidence and unless the court further found no other means existed to protect the minors from further abuse.
Additionally, while not without its weaknesses,6 mother‘s contention that she was entitled to reunification services specifically tailored to the problem which led to the removal of the minors from her physical custody, i.e., the sexual abuse by Derrick J., has some merit. Since the focus of reunification services is to remedy those problems which led to the removal of the children, a reunification plan formulated to correct certain parental deficiencies need not necessarily address other types of conduct, equally deleterious to the well-being of a child but which had not arisen at the time the original plan
Finally, the inexcusable delays in this case resulted in the lapse of over a year between acceptance of the case by Kings County and the entry of the dispositional order here appealed from. During this time it seems apparent mother‘s ability to further reunification with her children was hampered by her prolonged involvement in the pending criminal proceedings. Although mother acquiesced in the repeated continuance of the juvenile proceedings, theoretically to complete the criminal aspect of the case first, we will not assume that mother did so with full understanding of the serious negative consequences such delay would inevitably have on her right to ever regain her children. The delays in this case exceeded those statutorily permitted (see, e.g.,
The deficiencies in the services provided to mother are even more pronounced with respect to Julise and Latasha. As mother points out, no “reunification services,” as such, were ever provided with respect to her daughters since, prior to their detention in July 1984, the daughters had never been removed from mother‘s physical custody. Although as we will discuss, we are not persuaded that mother never had the benefit of any services concerning her daughters, we do deem it significant that permanency planning pursuant to
However, as we have previously noted, we do not accept mother‘s argument that no services were provided for Julise and Latasha, and our conclusion on this issue requires resort to an aspect of the juvenile dependency law which has very little judicial construction.
“(1) Families whose child has been adjudicated a dependent of the court under
“(2) Families whose child is in potential danger of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, who are willing to accept services and participate in corrective efforts, and where it is safe for the child to remain in the child‘s own home only with the provision of services.
“.... .... .... .... ....”
There are no cases construing the provision of family maintenance services, but it seems clear that when, at the initial dispositional hearing in September 1983, the social worker determined mother‘s two daughters, Latasha and Julise, could safely be left in mother‘s home under supervision, the ensuing plan for reunification with Michael was the functional equivalent
(9) Thus, when it is clear that family maintenance services have been provided to a family and have been ineffective in avoiding the need to modify the existing order and remove a dependent child from the home in order to protect the child, a judge in making a supplemental disposition is not required to reorder the same services for an additional period of time. Family maintenance services and family reunification services were enacted as part of the same broad amendments to the law governing dependent children in 1982. A review of the legislative history substantiates the similarity of family maintenance services and family reunification services.
In what appears to be an analysis prepared by or in connection with a Department of Finance 1982-1983 budget letter and dated March 2, 1981, the program of child welfare services is described as consisting “of four component services: (a) emergency response, (b) family maintenance, (c) family reunification, and (d) permanent placement. [Senate Bill] 14 [1981-1982 Reg. Sess.] recognizes that an integrated system of child welfare services cannot exist without 24-hour response; that once the child and family have entered the service network every attempt must be made to maintain the child in the home and the home as a unit; that certain criteria must be met before a child is removed from the home and that reunification services be offered; and that the best possible permanent placement plan be designed for each child who cannot be returned home or be adopted.”
Obviously, these services are not mutually exclusive, but they should not dissolve into some lockstep process which is blind to the particularized consideration of individual cases. Certainly the legislative history suggests a progression from emergency response to maintenance of the family to reunification of the family to permanent placement of the child outside the family. But this history is consistent with a legislative intent to rely in large part on the discretion of a well-informed, well-educated, and sensitive juvenile court to address the specific need in any particular case. Children are often immediately removed from the home for their protection, and reunification services are instituted without any intervening time for family maintenance services. Particularly since the services as specified in
(1c) The same reasons that persuaded us the Kings County Department of Social Services did not provide adequate “reunification” services with respect to Michael also persuade us that the family maintenance services for Latasha and Julise failed to satisfy the county‘s statutory obligation. Thus, under the totality of the circumstances in this case, the trial court abused its discretion in failing to provide in its dispositional order of September 27, 1985, for further reunification services.
The code contemplates an additional six-month period for provision of services beyond the initial year of out-of-home placement if it appears reunification could succeed in the extra time. A similar time period is warranted now, during which time the Kings County Department of Social Services must undertake a serious and objective assessment of mother‘s ability to successfully complete a reunification plan and regain physical custody of her children. We do not, and the juvenile court cannot, ignore the effect of the passage of time — some two and one-half years — on the feasibility of a reunification plan. The evaluation of the current status and well-being of the minors are matters particularly within the purview of the department of social services and the juvenile court. Our decision herein requires only that the appropriate agencies undertake this inquiry in good faith.
The judgment is reversed.
Franson, Acting P.J., concurred.*