In Re Sade C.

We granted review in this cause to address the question whether Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 [ 18 L.Ed.2d 493 , 87 S.Ct. 1396 ] (hereafter sometimes Anders ), which has been considered in decisions including People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 [ 158 Cal. Rptr. 839 , 600 P.2d 1071 ] (hereafter sometimes Wende ), applies, or must or should be extended, to an indigent parent's appeal from a judgment or order, obtained by the state, adversely affecting his custody of a child or his status as the child's parent. As will appear, our answer is no.

(1)(See fn. 1.) In the Juvenile Court of the Los Angeles County Superior Court (hereafter the juvenile court or simply the court), the Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services (hereafter DCS) filed two separate petitions in two separate proceedings under the juvenile court law (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 200 et seq.), as detailed below. [1]

In No. LK00851, DCS filed a petition requesting the juvenile court to adjudge a minor referred to as Sade C. to be within its jurisdiction and to declare her a dependent child. As subsequently amended, the petition alleged, inter alia, that Sade had suffered, or faced…