Santa Clara County Department of Social Services v. Antonio R.

Opinion

CAPACCIOLI, Acting P. J. Antonio R. (father) appeals from a dispositional order of the juvenile court placing his son, Jesse C., in foster care (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 300, subd. (a)) and denying reunification services pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (b)(2). He contends 1) there was insufficient evidence to support the order, and 2) the trial court committed reversible error by combining the jurisdictional and dispositional hearings, contrary to section 358, subdivision (c). The Santa Clara County Department of Social Services (DSS) responds that this appeal should be dismissed as moot in view of the intervening termination of appellant’s parental rights. (Civ. Code, § 232, subd. (a)(6).)1 We agree.

Procedural History

Jesse C. was taken into protective custody in January 1988 when he was one day old. A petition was thereafter filed under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a), alleging that the parents had a history of “extreme family conflict” resulting in physical altercations and frequent separations, on one occasion resulting in appellant’s arrest for domestic violence. The petition further alleged that the parents were unable to provide actual care and supervision of the minor or provide alternate care arrangements for him.

On June 15, 1988, DSS filed an amended petition which included an additional allegation, based on two separate psychological evaluations, that neither parent had the “emotional or psychological capacity to meet the psychological needs of said minor.” Both evaluations concluded that appellant had serious emotional problems that prevented him from being able to parent his children adequately. The psychologists also agreed that it was “very unlikely” appellant could benefit from reunification services.

At the time Jesse was placed in protective custody, his older brother, David, was a dependent child of the court. The parties stipulated that [1387]Jesse’s jurisdictional hearing could be combined with David’s permanency planning hearing, and a contested trial as to both matters commenced on June 28, 1988. On the last day of trial, the mother relinquished custody of both children, contingent upon the relinquishment or involuntary termination of appellant’s parental rights.

The trial court found that the allegations of the amended petition were true and that the minor came within the provisions of Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, subdivision (a). It then made dispositional orders declaring the minor a dependent child and committing him to the custody of the probation officer for placement in a foster-adoptive home. Finally, pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (b)(2), the court declined to order reunification services, finding that appellant was suffering from a mental disability described by Civil Code section 232, subdivision (a)(6), which rendered him incapable of utilizing or profiting from a reunification plan.