Stanislaus County Department of Social Services v. Kathleen D.

Statement of Case

This case is a consolidated appeal and writ from an order of the Stanislaus County Juvenile Court setting a Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 hearing to determine whether parental rights should be terminated. Kahlen W., the minor daughter of Kathleen D. and Stephen W, is the subject of the controversy. Kahlen was removed from her parents’ care on July 1, 1989. Stanislaus County Department of Social Services (DSS) filed a petition on July 5, 1989, alleging that Kahlen, then age 19 months, came within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (b).

*854 The minor was ordered detained July 6, 1989. The parents pleaded no contest to the petition on July 20, 1989, and the matter was set for disposition. On August 9, 1989, Kahlen was adjudged a dependent child and placed in the home of her adult half sister. A reunification plan was approved. Neither parent was present at the disposition hearing. A six-month review hearing was held on January 5, 1990, at which the court found reunification efforts to date had failed. The dispositional orders were renewed.

On July 2, 1990, a second six-month review hearing was held at…