Karen S. v. Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services

Introduction

In a petition filed November 3, 1987, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (D.P.S.S.) requested that Aisha B., a minor taken into custody by the Department of Children’s Services on October 30, 1987, be adjudged and declared a dependent child of the juvenile court. The petition alleged that the minor had no parent or guardian capable of and actually exercising proper and effective parental care and control; that the minor normally resided with her mother, who had demonstrated numerous recurrent mental health and emotional problems, making her unable to care for and supervise the minor; and that the minor’s father’s ability to care for her was unknown.

On November 24, 1987, a detention hearing set the matter for jurisdictional adjudication on January 25, 1988. At that hearing, the court released *1032 the minor to the custody of her father, ordered Los Angeles County to pay for the minor’s one-way transportation to Pennsylvania, and dismissed the November 3, 1987, petition. Karen S., mother of the minor, filed a notice of appeal on January 26, 1988.

Facts

At the January 25, 1988, hearing, Karen S., the minor’s mother, was represented…