In RE DeJOHN B.

Johnell P. (mother) and Adolph B. (father), parents of now three-year-old twin sons, DeJohn and Edward B., appeal from a judgment under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 selecting adoption as the minors’ permanent plan and terminating the parents’ rights. (All further statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code; the § 366.26 hearing is designated the permanency hearing.) Mother contends the judgment must be reversed because she was deprived of a fair hearing when Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) did not even attempt to notify her of the six-month review hearing where the court terminated reunification services and scheduled a permanency hearing. She is right. Father has no independent challenge, but argues his parental rights must be reinstated if mother prevails. He also is right.

We reverse the judgment and remand for proceedings comporting with due process. We publish our decision because the failure to give notice carries such grave consequences in the dependency court, where parent-child ties may be severed forever. Social services agencies, invested with a public trust and acting as temporary custodians of dependent minors,…