L.B.

INTRODUCTION

L.B. is the father of A.B., Le.B., and Malik B., who were between the ages of three and nine at the time the dependency petition was filed in this case. The juvenile court detained the children due to father’s domestic violence. At the 18-month review hearing held pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.22,1 the juvenile court terminated father’s reunification services and set a permanency planning hearing under section 366.26, and at the same time also granted the children’s petition under section 388 to modify father’s visits from unmonitored to monitored. Father challenges the juvenile court’s ruling, arguing the court denied him of his right to due process by proceeding with the 18-month contested review hearing without previously notifying him that it would do so at the same time as the children’s contested section 388 petition, and without giving him adequate time to prepare. We disagree and deny the petition.

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND AND FACTS

Petition and Jurisdiction The Los Angeles Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) detained the children on July 7, 2013, due to father’s domestic violence. Father and his then- girlfriend had…