In re S.C. CA3

FACTS

In September 2014, the Department filed a petition alleging the minor was suffering serious emotional damage because there was no parent capable of providing her appropriate care. Mother was unable to provide for her and father was in prison in North Carolina. Mother told the court she had been unable to locate father until the minor was 12 years old; after that, father exchanged letters with the minor but had no other contact. At the detention hearing, the juvenile court designated father as alleged. The Department located father after an inmate search and, on September 22, 2014, sent him notice of the pending jurisdiction hearing, to be held on October 16, 2014. The notice was received September 26, 2014. The notice, using the JV-280 form, included the court’s mailing address and telephone number, as well as the advisement: “You have the right to be present at the hearing, to present evidence, and to be represented by an attorney. . . . [T]he court will appoint an attorney for you if you cannot afford one.” That same day, the clerk also mailed father copies of the petition, the detention report, the detention orders, a parent handbook, and several forms including the…