In Re RS

Nancy Marsh, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Objector and Appellant and Defendant and Appellant.

James B. Preston for Petitioners and Respondents and Plaintiffs and Respondents.

Peter C. Carton, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for the Minor.

William A. Richmond, District Attorney, and Peter George Champion, Deputy District Attorney, as Amici Curiae on behalf of the Minor.

OPINION

HAMLIN, J.

Tanya S. appeals from the judgment declaring her five-year-old son, R.S. (the minor), free from her custody and control (Civ. Code, § 232, subd. (a)(6)) [1] and appointing Donald H. and Debra H. (hereafter petitioners) as guardians of the minor (§ 239). Petitioners filed the petition to free the minor from Tanya's custody and control. In it they alleged that Tanya was and would remain incapable of supporting or controlling the minor because of mental deficiency or mental illness.

Tanya urges on appeal that the judgment terminating her parental rights should be reversed because the trial court failed to make the required finding that immediate termination was the least detrimental alternative to protect the interests of the minor. Additionally, Tanya contends (1)…