Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services v. Superior Court

In this juvenile dependency case, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) challenges the court’s order providing a mother with an additional six months of reunification services. On June 19, 1997, we issued our alternative writ ordering the juvenile court to vacate its order extending family reunification beyond the maximum 18-month reunification period set forth in Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (a)(2) 1 and make a new and different order terminating the family reunification plan and setting a hearing pursuant to section 366.26 or, in the alternative, to show cause why a peremptory writ of mandate ordering the court to do so should not issue.

Upon review of the response filed by Deborah W., the minors’ mother, the reply filed by DCFS, and the evidence presented at the permanency planning hearing, and for the reasons we shall explain, we conclude that the court abused its discretion in ordering additional reunification services. We, therefore, grant DCFS’s petition for extraordinary relief.

*1063 Summary of Facts

Minor, Brequia Y., was seven years old and her brother, Corey Y., was two years old when they were…