Sacramento County Department of Social Welfare v. Virginia D.

Virginia D. (appellant), the mother of minors Scott M. and Dawn M., appeals from juvenile court orders terminating her parental rights (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.26; further section references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code).

In the published portion of this opinion, we reject appellant’s contention that the juvenile court erred when it prevented her “from examining the suitability of the prospective adoptive parents” during cross-examination of a social worker who opined the minors were adoptable. As we shall explain, if appellant had attempted to inquire into whether there was some legal impediment to adoption by the prospective adoptive parents, such evidence *841 would have been relevant because the social worker’s opinion that the minors will be adopted was based in part on the foster parents’ desire to adopt them. However, appellant’s cross-examination of the social worker did not focus on a legal impediment to adoption by that family. Instead, appellant sought to inquire whether the foster parents were “suitable” for the minors. General suitability to adopt is a subjective matter which does not constitute a legal impediment to adoption and, thus, is…