Orange County Social Services Agency v. Jo Ann C.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Sills, J.
I
At birth, Cristella was jittery and irritable. Cocaine was in her blood, and she felt the pangs of withdrawal. Her mother, Jo Ann, was on parole at the *1365 time, having been convicted of using and selling heroin in 1986. Jo Ann had used heroin and cocaine since 1984 and gone through a number of unsuccessful drug rehabilitation programs. Cristella’s brother Victor, three years her elder, was also born suffering drug withdrawal. Cristella’s natural father was nowhere to be found, having gone back to a wife and children in Mexico.
On January 30, 1989, just five days after her birth, the Orange County Social Services Agency filed a petition to put Cristella under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. By February 10 Cristella was able to be moved from the hospital to an emergency shelter home. By April Cristella had been declared a dependent of the juvenile court, Jo Ann’s counsel having stipulated there was clear and convincing evidence there was a substantial danger to Cristella’s health if she was returned home.
For the first year of her life Cristella suffered a variety of medical problems. She was referred to the crippled children’s services for a neurological…
Dissenting Opinion
Crosby, J.
The Supreme Court is already slated to determine whether that portion of Welfare and Institutions Code sections 366.26, subdivision (c)(1) which authorizes the juvenile court to terminate parental rights based in part on earlier findings made under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard (e.g., Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.21, subd. (f), 366.22, subd. (a)) is constitutional. (Cynthia D. v. Superior Court (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 913 [ 4 Cal.Rptr.2d 909 ], review granted Apr. 23, 1992 (S025807); In re Daniela M. (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 226 [ 4 Cal.Rptr.2d 290 ], review granted Apr. 23, 1992 (S025571).) The children affected by these statutory provisions are those who have become dependents of the juvenile court since 1989 and whose relationships with their parents were severed after they were removed from parental custody (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 361, subd. (b)); lived in an out-of-home placement for at least 12 months (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 366.21, 366.22); and, with their parents, were offered *1374 reunification services (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 361.5, subd. (a)). The overwhelming number of termination appeals involve dependent children in this category.