Legal Question in Juvenile Dependency in California
returning my baby home from relative placement
The facts:
05/04/00...Baby is born. Both she and mom test positive for methamphetamine. DCFS takes baby from hospital and file WIC300. Mom is the offending parent,I am non-offending.Mom offers to move out of home.
05/10/00...Disposition hearing. Baby is given to me with strict court orders to keep mom away unless with a monitor. I am not a monitor.
06/22/00...DCFS discovers mom at home. Baby is put into foster care. I am now an offending parent charged with neglect and endangerment.
07/20/00...Mom and I are arrested at home and spend 4 days in jail. I am charged with H/S11378 & H/S11364. Mom is not charged. DCFS is alerted but does not remove my 13 year old daughter from home
08/09/00...A WIC342 is filed. I must now do exatly as mom. Ind.drug counseling, group drug couns, and parenting. Baby now in relative placement in Riverside county. The matter now goes to 6 mo.dependency review on 03/22/01.
Social wrkr is recommending 6 mor mos.Everything court ordered is done. What must I now do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: returning my baby home from relative placement
Dear Inquirer:
Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client
relationship, unless a written retainer agreement
is executed by the attorney and client. This
communication contains general information only.
Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client
communication nor legal advice. There likely are
deadlines and time-limits associated with your
case; you should contact an attorney of your
choice for legal advice specific to your personal
situation, at once.
If you haven't already done so, please visit my
web site at --
http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR
http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com
The site contains quite a bit of general
information about California Family Law, Tenants'
Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD
hearings and appeals, as well as information
about me (education, experience, et cetera)
and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).
NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --
While the only thing to do may be to wait the six months,
I would strongly suggest you retain an attorney who
is experienced in Juvenile Dependency matters in YOUR
county. If you can't afford one, one will be appointed for
you. Juvenile dependency matters are NOT "do it yourself"
projects, unless you don't care about getting your
child back from the county.
Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with
us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.