Juvenile Dependency Cases

We also represent clients who have had their children removed by the Department of Social Services because of false allegations of abuse or neglect.  Such cases are called "juvenile” or "juvenile dependency" cases.  These cases are conducted in special courts closed to the public and to public scrutiny.

Our team members have over twenty years experience handling these cases.  There is no right to a jury trial in a juvenile or juvenile dependency case.  The decisions in these cases is made entirely by a judge, commissioner, or referee who can rely on hearsay statements of social workers, doctors, and therapists in determining if a parent abused a child. 

There is a general presumption in juvenile dependency cases that the parent is guilty until proven innocent.  Children are routinely removed from their parents’ custody based on reports of suspected abuse from teachers, family physicians, therapists, and vindictive spouses and relatives.  Unfortunately, if a social worker merely suspects there has been abuse or neglect, or that a child or children are at risk for abuse or neglect, the law allows the social worker to remove the children from their parents’ home and place him or her in a foster home until the department of social services completes its investigation or the court finds the abuse allegation untrue.  Rarely, however, are children returned to their parents’ custody.  In California, there are an average of 100,000 children in foster care every night.

All too often, the judge finds the allegations to be true, and the children are placed in long-term foster care while the parents are required to attend countless hours of therapy, special classes, and prove to the social worker and the court that they are reformed.  Social workers employ a common and yet outrageous strategy in which they advise the parent who is not suspected of abuse to obtain a restraining order against the alleged abuser, kicking them out of the house as a condition for returning the children to the parent.  We have even seen social workers demand that the parent file for divorce or separation as a condition for returning the children.  Meanwhile, the alleged abuser is either denied visitation, or can only see the children for one hour or less a week with a visitation supervisor watching every move, and filing weekly reports describing the visit. 

If the court determines that the allegations of abuse are true, the child is declared a dependent ward of the court.  Often the accused parent will sued by the county welfare department and assessed the maximum child support allowed by law, which will be automatically garnished from wages and paid directly to the county, while the child or children are in foster care.  Children are often removed from their parents’ custody for up to 18 months.  At the end of 18 months, parent’s rights can be terminated and the child adopted out to strangers.  For young children, it may only be 12 months before termination proceedings.

Most attorneys are unfamiliar with this strange and bizarre juvenile dependency court system.  Many attorneys refuse to get involved in the juvenile court system because it is so fundamentally unfair.  It is essential that parents be represented by an attorney who has experience with the juvenile court system, and has the knowledge to challenge any deviations from the law the social worker may attempt during the reunification process.  Our experience informs us that the system rewards social workers who are able to terminate parental rights and adopt children out because the counties receive federal funding when they adopt out children.

The system actually requires the social services department to follow a two-track process while children are in foster care.  One track is designed to reunify the child with his or her parents, while the other requires the county to make plans to adopt the child out in the event parents fail to complete the social workers’ reunification requirements.  Often, the foster family that the child is placed with has been pre-selected by the Department of Social Services as a potential adoptive home.  In this way, children placed in such homes are at substantial risk at being alienated from their parents by the foster parents, who are hoping the reunification efforts fail so they can adopt the child themselves.

If a child has been removed because of a suspicion of sexual or physical abuse, parents have an even harder time getting their kids back. The mere accusation will results in the parent's name being placed on the Child Abuse Central Index forever.  (Unless a parent can prove that the accusation was unfounded and petition the Department of Justice to remove their name.)

There is no requirement that the agency that put your name on the list conduct a thorough investigation.  We have seen some social services departments attempt to maintain a person on the Abuse Index even after the allegations are dismissed!  When a parent’s name in put on this list, they will be prevented from working in any setting where there are children present.  Forever. They will never be allowed to volunteer as a coach, help out at school, church, or any other youth program. They are labeled simply a child abuser.

And as we’ve pointed out, the burden is on you the parent to prove the accusation was unfounded.  Let’s now take a few minutes to describe the juvenile court process.  The process is divided into three phases:

Phase One:  The Detention Phase

When a social worker receives information that a child may have been abused or neglected, or that a child is at risk for abuse or neglect, the social worker generally contacts the child, or the party reporting the suspected abuse and makes an immediate decision whether or not to remove the child from his or her parents’ custody.

Children who are of school age are usually interviewed by the social worker at school, without any prior notification to the parents.  If the social worker suspects abuse occurred, the child is taken directly from school to an emergency shelter and then placed in a foster home as soon as one becomes available.

The social worker will then call or leave a notice for the parents of the child informing them that their child has been taken from them, and that there will be a petition alleging abuse filed with the court within the next two days.  In the notice, parents are instructed to appear at a court hearing where the judge reads the petition and determines if there was sufficient cause to remove the child.

Having an attorney at this early stage in the proceedings can be very useful in setting the tone of the case, and making sure the court knows there are two sides to the story. Unfortunately, most judges find that there was sufficient cause to remove the children from their parents, and the case moves into Phase Two.

Phase Two:  The Jurisdictional Phase

This is the phase in which there is a trial to determine whether the allegations are true. Leading up to the trial, your attorney should receive and review the reports that the department will rely on in proving its case against you. Our litigation team members review these reports with our clients in great detail.

In cases of false allegations of abuse or neglect, attention to detail is critical because it will generally lead to an explanation of why the accusation was made and why it is false. It is also the time when we can conduct our own investigations and retain our own experts to disprove the allegations. 

Remember, in this system, parents are guilty until proven innocent!  The trial is called a jurisdictional hearing.  This hearing is very similar to a criminal trial, except that there is no jury, and constitutionally important rules of evidence are ignored.  For example, hearsay is generally admissible.  Our goal is to convince the court that the accusations are false, and to dismiss the petition.  If the court agrees with us that the accusations are false, children return home.  Unfortunately when we win our clients often make a reasonable request for an apology.  Don’t expect an apology from the social worker, and don’t look to sue the county. Why?  The state legislature has given social workers immunity from lawsuits, unless you can prove that the social worker acted maliciously and gave false statements to the court.  It does occur, and our team members have been involved in some of those cases.

Unfortunately, social workers can act negligently and suffer no legal repercussions!  If the court finds the allegations true at the conclusion of the jurisdictional hearing, we move on to Phase Three.

Phase Three:  The Dispositional Phase

This phase is designed to "reform” a parent and make it safe to return the child.  Depending on the nature of the case, the Department of Social Services often attempts to deny parents any reunification with their child, particularly if the allegation involves sexual abuse.

When they are doing what the law requires, the social workers must develop a reunification plan.  This plan consists of parenting classes, individual and group therapy, visits with the children, and the attempts by parents to convince the social worker that they are not monsters.  The requirements can change as the case progresses, and the social worker often attempt to put more and more hurdles in front of parents trying to get their kids back.  The time and expense involved in completing these ever evolving requirements can be overwhelming.  Having an attorney who knows what the law requires, and who can keep social workers from imposing unnecessary and arbitrary requirements is critical.

As a parent moves through the reunification process, there are review hearings at 6, 12, and 18 months, except in cases of young children in which the reunification process only lasts 12 months.  Each of these review hearings is a critical stage in the proceedings.  If the court finds a parent has failed at any of these stages, the child is at risk for adoption.  Our team goal is to make sure our clients pass each one of these review hearings so that the social workers cannot adopt out their kids.

You are watching this video because you or a loved one is now caught up in this grossly unfair system.  Our sympathies go out to you and to that loved one.  As your attorneys, we will use our many years of experience with this system to reunify you with your children, and clear your name as a suspected child abuser.