N.T. v. Super. Ct. CA5

Filed 1/16/14 N.T. v. Super. Ct. CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

N.T., Petitioner, F068274 v. (Super. Ct. No. 12CEJ3000077) THE SUPERIOR COURT OF FRESNO COUNTY, OPINION Respondent;

FRESNO COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES,

Real Party in Interest.

THE COURT ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS; petition for extraordinary writ review. Mary Dolas, Commissioner. Kenneth K. Taniguchi, Public Defender, and Douglas S. Feinberg, Deputy Public Defender, for Petitioner. No appearance for Respondent. Kevin Briggs, County Counsel, and Amy K. Cobb, Deputy County Counsel, for Real Party in Interest. -ooOoo-

 Before Gomes, Acting P.J., Kane, J., and Detjen, J.

N.T. (father) is the presumed father of two-year-old Jeremiah, the subject of this writ petition. After exercising its dependency jurisdiction over Jeremiah, respondent court denied father reunification services under Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (b)(1)1 because his whereabouts were unknown and set a six-month review hearing. (§ 366.21, subd. (e).) Prior to the six-month review hearing, father made his whereabouts known and requested reunification services. Respondent court set a section 366.26 hearing without offering father services or denying him services on any ground other than subdivision (b)(1) of section 361.5. Father seeks extraordinary writ relief, contending the juvenile court erred in setting the section 366.26 hearing. We grant the petition. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL SUMMARY In March 2013, the Fresno County Department of Social Services (department) removed then 21-month-old Jeremiah from the custody of his paternal cousin (the cousin). The cousin explained that Jeremiah had been in her care for almost two weeks after she picked him up for a visit from the apartment father shared with Jeremiah’s mother Cynthia. Father and Cynthia were not at the apartment when the cousin arrived. Jeremiah was on the living room couch asleep and there were people smoking methamphetamine. The cousin said she could no longer care for Jeremiah and did not know where father and Cynthia were. The department filed a dependency petition alleging in part that father and Cynthia failed to adequately care for Jeremiah and provide him ongoing care and support. (§ 300, subds. (b) & (g).) The department placed Jeremiah in foster care.