In Re Andrew S.
Los Angeles County Department of Children's Services v. Paul S.
Opinion
Opinion
Epstein, J.
Appellants Paul S. (father) and Marlene B. (mother) appeal from a judgment terminating their rights to parent their four minor children. They contend the judgment must be reversed because they were not provided with adequate reunification services. Mother also contends the minors should have been returned to her at the time of the permanency planning hearing, that she was wrongfully deprived of counsel at the hearing in which her parental rights were terminated, and that the trial court erred in selecting the option of adoption rather than guardianship for her children.
In the published part of this opinion we conclude the trial court erred in depriving mother of counsel at the Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 hearing, but that the error is not per se reversible and was harmless under the circumstances in this case. We also comment about the delay in the trial and appellate proceedings. In the unpublished portion of the opinion we reject the other grounds asserted as a basis for reversal.
Factual and Procedural Summary
Deputy sheriffs went to appellants’ home four or five times between 1987 and 1989, primarily in response to the children’s calls regarding…