In Re Brittany S.

Meyer I. Goldstein, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Minor.

OPINION

SILLS, P.J.

In this appeal we are faced with two troubling and recurring problems, one substantive, the other procedural. The substantive problem is this: If a minor becomes a dependent under the Welfare and Institutions Code because the minor's parent is incarcerated, what reunification services are appropriate and reasonable? The issue is important because reunification services are a major component of the "service plan," and a parent's failure to comply with the service plan almost invariably leads to termination of parental rights. If a parent cannot avail himself or herself of reunification services because of incarceration, it is a fait accompli that the parent will fail to comply with the service plan. That is what occurred here. While "use a gun, go to prison" may well be an appropriate legal maxim, "go to prison, lose your child" is not. We therefore reverse the judgment. We also hold that all issues raised by the parent in this appeal are properly before us, even though she did not seek extraordinary relief at an earlier stage of the proceedings.

The minor, Brittany S., was born on…