City & County of San Francisco Department of Social Services v. Durrett M.

Opinion

KING, J. We publish our opinion in this case to once again bring to the attention of the Legislature once again the need to change the process for appellate review of juvenile court determinations, especially in dependency proceedings. The present method of review by appeal fails to protect the rights of the parties fully and imposes an unnecessary additional workload on already overburdened Courts of Appeal and public legal offices representing the City and County of San Francisco Department of Social Services (Department) which filed the present dependency petition.

Marlette P. and Durrett M. separately appeal from an order declaring their two daughters dependent children and placing them in the custody of their paternal grandmother.

[1269]On February 26, 1988, based on several relative referrals and two home visits by a social worker, the Department filed a petition alleging that Danielle and Kiana M., then aged one and four, came within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a).1 After a contested detention hearing on March 23, the children were placed with their father, Durrett M., in the home of his mother, Gloria Johnson. On May 19, 1988, after a contested jurisdictional and dispositional hearing, the trial court declared Danielle and Kiana to be dependents of the court and placed them in the custody of their paternal grandmother. The trial court denied the father’s petition for rehearing.

In support of its dispositional order, the trial court found 1) an award of custody to the parents would be detrimental to the children and an award to a nonparent was in their best interest (Civ. Code, § 4600), 2) there would be substantial danger to their physical health if they were returned home and no reasonable means to protect them without removing them from their parents’ physical custody (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 361, subd. (b)(1)), and 3) reasonable efforts had been made to eliminate the need for their removal from home (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 361, subd. (c)). Specifically, the trial court cited the mother’s drug abuse and failure to provide adequate food, clothing, and a clean, safe environment, and stated that “the father is unable to care for [the children] because of lack of employment and separate residence.”

I, II*