Maricela C. v. Superior Court of L.A. Cty.
Opinion
Opinion
Nott, J.
Petitioner, Maricela C., seeks a writ of mandate directing the juvenile court to set aside its order of March 17, 1998, directing the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide permanent placement services for her children, Christina, Christian and Jovany (the minors), and setting a Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 selection and implementation hearing. The question presented is whether the court, pursuant to section 366.3, subdivision (f) (hereafter section 366.3(f)) should have conducted a contested hearing prior to setting a section 366.26 hearing. We conclude that the court had no such obligation.
I. Factual and Procedural Background
Petitioner is the mother of Christina C. (born Aug. 28, 1988), Christian C. (born June 4, 1990) and Jovany C. (born Mar. 7, 1993).
On February 13, 1991, DCFS filed a petition on behalf of Christina and Christian alleging, among other things, that Christian had been bom suffering from symptoms of drag withdrawal and a positive toxicology screen for cocaine, which put him at risk of serious physical and emotional damage, and that petitioner had a history of cocaine and alcohol use, which…