Rule 5.740.Hearings after selection of a permanent plan (§§ 366.26, 366.3, 16501.1)

Choosing a permanent plan does not end the court’s work. Where rights have been terminated or modified, or a guardianship plan is in place, the court retains jurisdiction and reviews the case at least every six months to make sure the adoption or guardianship actually gets finished.

At each review the court considers the petitioner’s report, any CASA report, the case plan and any caregiver report; asks about the progress toward a permanent home; considers the child’s safety; and enters the statutory findings, along with the case plan findings the general review rule requires. When an adoption is granted, jurisdiction ends. After a guardianship is established, the court may keep dependency or end it and retain the narrower jurisdiction — with the same rule for a relative or extended family member guardian, where terminating dependency is mandatory unless the guardian objects or exceptional circumstances apply.

Where the child is not placed for adoption, two findings recur at every review: whether the agency made diligent efforts to locate an appropriate relative, and whether each relative submitted as a possible caregiver has been evaluated as a placement resource. A negative answer carries an order to do the work.

For any other permanent plan — relative care or foster care — reviews happen at least every six months, before the court or a local administrative review panel, on the same considerations and findings. On top of that, at least once every 12 months the court itself must review whether the permanent plan is still appropriate, and that review may be combined with a six-month one. If circumstances have changed, the court may order a new permanent plan at any later hearing, or a party may seek one by modification petition.

One provision sets the burden for going back: the court must continue the child in foster care unless the parents prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that further reunification efforts are the best alternative for the child — and then services may be ordered for no more than six months.

For a youth of 16 or older, the transition provisions apply and each stage has its own form: the first review after turning 16, the last review before turning 18, and any review after 18 — with a further set of requirements and a separate form where the court is terminating jurisdiction at that hearing.

Ending a guardianship goes back to the juvenile court. A petition to terminate it, to appoint a successor, or to modify or supplement guardianship orders is filed there as a modification request. Where dependency ended and was later declared in another county, the court with current dependency jurisdiction may hear it. Notice goes out at least 15 court days before the hearing to the department of social services, the guardian, the child if 10 or older, parents whose rights have not been terminated, the court that established the guardianship if elsewhere, and counsel of record.

The court may deny the petition; deny it and ask the welfare department to provide services to guardian and ward to keep the guardianship going; or grant it. If it grants the petition and dependency continues or resumes, a new plan for stability and permanency must be developed and a hearing held within 60 days unless one is already set — with notice to parents whose rights survive. Further reunification efforts may be considered only if a parent proves by a preponderance that they are the best alternative. And where the guardianship was established elsewhere, a certified copy of the termination order goes back to that court within 15 days.