In re A.N. CA4/2

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendants and appellants, P.N. (Father) and L.N. (Mother), are the divorced

parents of three children, Ad., Z., and Am. They appeal from orders of the juvenile court

declaring the children dependents of the court and removing them from the parents‟

custody. They argue that the evidence is insufficient to support the court‟s true findings

as to allegations establishing juvenile court jurisdiction and that the court deprived them

of due process when it added a new jurisdictional allegation at the conclusion of the

jurisdictional hearing. The parents also challenge the court‟s dispositional order

removing the children from their custody and placing them in foster care.

We agree with the parents that the court erred in adding a new jurisdictional

allegation without providing them an opportunity to present evidence and argument on

the issues it raised. We also agree that several of the jurisdictional findings are not

supported by sufficient evidence. However, two of the court‟s true findings are

supported by substantial evidence, which establishes the court‟s jurisdiction over the

children. Finally, we reject the parents‟ challenges to the dispositional…