Similar to many large systems in our world, dependency court, child welfare, and the law, which directs both of them, have their own "language." The following terms are ones you may hear during discussions regarding the status of the court case involving your Angels child.

388 Petition:

A modification petition is used to change, modify or set aside any previous order of the court. Any party can file this petition. For example, a parent (through their attorney) may file a 388 petition to request a child who is in foster care being returned to the parent's care in family maintenance.

Bypass Services:

Bypass services means that the parents will not receive any services (family reunification services nor family maintenance services) from CWS and a 366.26 hearing will be set to develop a permanent plan for the child. There has to be specific legal grounds to recommend bypass, such as, previous family reunification services were terminated or parental rights were terminated.

Concurrent Planning:

Concurrent planning means that two plans are happening at the same time. It's very important to find a permanent home for a child as soon as possible. So, when a child is removed from his/her parents, Child Welfare Services prefers to place children in homes that are willing to provide a permanent home for the child. If the child then cannot go back to live with their parents after a certain amount of time, the child is already in a permanent home.

Contested Hearing

A contested hearing is a trial without a jury and where the judge makes the decision on the case. All parties have the ability to request a contested hearing when there is a disagreement over a recommended course of action (a placement change to termination of parental rights).

De Facto Parents:

A de facto parent can go to court and show evidence at the hearing that although not a child's biological parent, they have acted like that child's parent and can request de facto parent status. A de facto parent is someone who the Court agrees has or has had day-to-day care of the child and who qualifies to be a de facto parent. This designation allows the de facto parent to participate in all court proceedings regarding the child. They can also have a lawyer and be noticed on the court proceedings.

Dependent/Dependency:

A "dependent" refers to a child described in Section 300 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.   Dependency is the status of a minor who has been ordered temporarily removed from parental custody and made a dependent of the Juvenile Court due to parental neglect or abuse.

Prime facie:

Prima facie means literally "on its face." A prima facie case is one which has been proven sufficiently to sustain the allegations, unless the opposing party can produce evidence in rebuttal. This is the standard of evidence for Detention Hearings.

Submission:

A submission is simply an agreement to let the judge determine the particular result and to abide by the result. A submission is not an agreement to a particular result.

Trial Confirmation (TCC):

Trial Confirmation is a time set in court for the party who is contesting the recommendation to state that they want to continue with the trial, for all the parties to meet and discuss the length of time the trial will take, and to set a date and time of the trial.