Los Angeles Family Law Attorneys & Lawyers
Juvenile Dependency
We represent parents in Juvenile Dependency proceedings. In Los Angeles, all dependency cases are filed in the Children’s Court in Monterey Park.
What is a juvenile dependency case?
When the Department of Children and Family Services, feels that a child is at risk, it will file a petition with the Juvenile Dependency court seeking to intervene in the child’s life. In Juvenile Dependency courts, all decisions are made by judges, not juries. In most cases, the child will be removed from the home, at least until the veracity and severity of the allegations can be determined. Simply speaking, there are three big decisions that will be made fairly soon after the petition is filed.
First, where will the child live? If a child cannot be placed with a parent, there should always be an attempt to have the child placed with a relative. Not only is such a placement more comfortable for the child, it also maximizes the parent’s chance of retaining the possibility of future custody rights in case the parent fails to reunify with the child during the prescribed period, which ranges from six to eighteen months. At each step of the proceedings, the parent can advocate that the child either be returned or placed with a relative.
Second, are the allegations true? In most cases, unless the parent demands an immediate trial, the parties will attempt to resolve the allegations through formal or informal negotiations. If negotiations fail, there will be a trial. During the trial, the Department must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the allegations are true. Which, unfortunately is a low standard. Basically, the county only has to show that it is more likely than not that the abuse occurred. If either the negotiations or the trial results in a conclusion that the allegations are false, the child will be returned and the case will end. If it is determined that there is some truth to at least some of the allegations, the court will take jurisdiction over the child until the parent demonstrates that the child is no longer at risk.
Third, what must the parent do to regain custody of the child? When an allegation is found to be true, the parent will have anywhere from six to eighteen months to reunify with the child. Reunification usually requires successful completion of programs which address the conduct about which the court is concerned. Such programs typically include counseling to address problems related to parenting skills, anger management, or substance abuse. We routinely have our client start taking the proper counseling immediately.
What happens when parents fail to reunify with a child?
From the beginning of every Juvenile Dependency proceeding where a child is removed from both parents, there is “concurrent planning” going on. This means that the Department is developing a plan for the child’s future in case the parents fail to reunify with the child. These plans include adoption, guardianship, or long-term foster care. Oftentimes, the foster parents with whom the child is staying would like to adopt the child. This dynamic frequently leads to conflict between parents seeking to reunify with their children and the foster parents who are caring for the children. When a child is adopted, the parents’ parental rights will be terminated. Parental rights are suspended during guardianships, and not affected (in the legal sense) by long-term foster care.
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