Justin C., a minor

Justin C., A Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPT OF CHILDREN SERVICES, Respondent v. THOMAS C., Appellant No. S078076 C.A. 2nd, Div. 1, No. B121691 California Supreme Court Filed June 3, 1999
        Respondent's petition for review DENIED.
        The Reporter of Decisions is directed not to publish in the Official Appellate Reports the opinion in the above entitled appeal filed March 3, 1999, which appears at 70 Cal.App.4th 1516. (Cal. Const., art. VI, section 14; rule 976, Cal. Rules of Court.)


(Editor Note - For your convenience we reprint below the Daily Journal's Ruling Column brief that summarized the earlier decision of the lower court.)

JUVENILES

Dependency petition must be dismissed where first trial occurs two years and seven months after petition is filed.
        The C.A. 2nd has ruled that a substantial delay, of two years and seven months, in the adjudication of a petition for dependency required dismissal of the petition.
        The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) filed a dependency petition on July 12, 1995. The petition was filed against Thomas C., alleging that he sexually abused his children, five-year-old Justin C. and three-year-old Jennifer C. The children were placed with their mother, who had been awarded physical custody. Thomas was allowed monitored visits contingent on the children's approval. However, Thomas had problems obtaining visitation. A DCFS investigator had allegedly informed Thomas that visitation would not have been allowed until the dependency petition was resolved. DCFS also stated that, according to the mother, the children did not want to see Thomas. On April 4, 1997, Thomas asked for a dismissal of the petition since the matter had been pending since July 1995. Despite several objections from Thomas, there had been at least 17 continuances. An overcrowded trial court docket also contributed to the delay. In addition, Thomas continuously experienced difficulties with visitation, even though DCFS had been ordered by the trial court to facilitate visitation. The adjudication for the dependency petition finally began on Feb. 23, 1998, and the petition was granted.
        The C.A. 2nd reversed. Dependency petitions must be resolved quickly in order to protect the best interests of the child. The trial court is required to set a hearing within 30 days of the filing of the petition. In addition, the trial court's discretion in granting continuances is limited by Welfare and Institutions Code Section 352 and California Rules of Court 1422(a). Violations of the statutory restrictions require that the entire dependency petition be dismissed. The appellate court acknowledged that resources are limited for trial courts hearing juvenile matters. However, the statutory requirements must be complied with until the congestion problem in the judicial system is resolved by the Legislature. Although it is nearly impossible for trial courts in Los Angeles to begin adjudication of dependency petitions within 30 days of filing, over two years and seven months had passed between the time DCFS filed its petition against Thomas and when the first adjudication occurred. Two years and seven months "is well beyond any degree of rationality." Such undue delay will likely have permanent negative effects on the parent-child relationship and at the very least make reunification more difficult. Accordingly, the petition should have been dismissed.
        Justin C., a minor, C.A. 2nd, Div. 1, No. B121691, filed March 3, 1999, by Ortega, J.
        The full text of this case appears in 99 Daily Journal D.A.R. 3100, April 2, 1999.