Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Superior Court

We issued an order to show cause to consider whether a juvenile court may dismiss a dependency petition, sua sponte and with no advance notice, at the conclusion of a detention hearing. We conclude that, barring exceptional and exigent circumstances not present in this case, it may not. Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of mandate of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) to the extent it challenges such a dismissal.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In December 2007, the Department detained then three-month-old Isabella L. and filed the dependency petition at issue in this writ proceeding. *1413 At the time, five of Isabella’s siblings and half siblings were dependents of the juvenile court pursuant to a petition the Department had filed 18 months earlier. 1 The five siblings were in placement with grandparents, the children’s mother (mother) was receiving reunification services, and a contested 18-month review hearing (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.22) was scheduled to take place the following month.

The dependency petition filed on Isabella’s behalf alleged that (1) in June 2005, a then seven-month-old sibling of…

I respectfully dissent.

The order of the court dismissing the petition was not in conflict with any statute. Absent statutory prohibition, the court has inherent power to dismiss the petition in an appropriate case. I find this to be such a case.

The petition of real parties in interest for review by the Supreme Court was denied July 30, 2008, S164658. George, C. J., did not participate therein.

Law Office of Timothy Martella, Eliot Lee Grossman and Renelde Espinoza for Real Party in Interest Stacey P.

Children's Law Center of Los Angeles, Carol B. Gasa Kittler and Kenneth Ichiroku for Minor.

RUBIN, J.

We issued an order to show cause to consider whether a juvenile court may dismiss a dependency petition, sua sponte and with no advance notice, at the conclusion of a detention hearing. We conclude that, barring exceptional and exigent circumstances not present in this case, it may not. Accordingly, we grant the petition for writ of mandate of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) to the extent it challenges such a dismissal.

In December 2007, the Department detained then three-month-old Isabella L. and filed the dependency petition at issue in this writ proceeding. At the time, five of Isabella's siblings and half siblings were dependents of the juvenile court pursuant to a petition the Department had filed 18 months earlier. [1] The five siblings were in placement with grandparents, the children's mother (mother) was receiving reunification services, and a contested 18-month review hearing (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.22) was…