In Re Daijah T.
Daijah T. v. Felicia W.
Opinion
Opinion
Sims, J.
Felicia W., the mother of Daijah T. and Shawn T., appeals from juvenile court orders denying her petition for modification and terminating her parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 388, 395; further undesignated statutory references are to that code.) Appellant contends the court erroneously denied her an evidentiary hearing on the petition, resulting in a violation of her right to due process of law. We shall conclude the juvenile court violated her statutory rights by denying her an evidentiary hearing on the petition under section 388; accordingly we need not resolve her due process claim. We shall reverse the orders.
Factual and Procedural Background
On November 2, 1998, the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) filed amended section 300 petitions on behalf of one-year-old Daijah and two-year-old Shawn. Those petitions alleged in part that appellant’s emotional difficulties and substance abuse rendered her incapable of providing adequate care to the minors. The juvenile court sustained the petitions as amended further and adjudged the minors dependent children.