In re Jayden M. CA3
Sacramento County Department of Health & Human Services v. J.M.
Opinion
Opinion
Hull, J.
J.M. (mother) and C.M. (father), parents of the minor Jayden M., appeal from the juvenile court’s order terminating parental rights. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.26, 395; unless stated otherwise, statutory references that follow are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.) They contend (1) the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services (Department) and the juvenile court erroneously removed Jayden from his prospective adoptive parents without complying with the statutory procedures set forth in sections 366.26, subdivision (n) and 361.3; (2) there is insufficient evidence Jayden was adoptable; and (3) the juvenile court violated parents’ rights to effective assistance of counsel and a fair hearing and abrogated its duty to make an independent decision when it denied mother’s request for a continuance of the section 366.26 hearing in light of the Department’s failure to provide an updated assessment of potential adoptive placements to the court. We disagree and affirm the juvenile court’s orders.
Facts and Proceedings
A. Detention and Reunification Services
On October 19, 2012, after his father left Jayden with his paternal grandmother with an eye infection…