Rule 5.820.Termination of parental rights for child in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months

Where a ward has been in any foster care placement for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the probation department must follow the statutory procedure to terminate the parents’ rights. Two things excuse it: a compelling reason, documented in the probation file, that termination would not be in the child’s best interest — or a failure to have provided the family with the reasonable efforts needed to reunify.

Where the department does set a hearing, it must also work to identify an approved family for adoption. Where it relies on a compelling reason, that reason must be documented in the case file, either separately or inside another court document such as a permanency planning social study.

The counting rules are the practical heart of the rule. Start from the date the child entered foster care — which in some cases will be the date they entered as a dependent. Count every month since, and do not start over because a new petition was filed or for any other reason. A partial month counts as one month for every 30 days. Then exclude the time that does not belong: detention in a parent’s or guardian’s home; living at home on formal or informal probation, on a trial home visit, or with no probationary status; time as a runaway or absent without leave; and time out of home in a non-foster-care setting such as juvenile hall, a ranch, a camp, a school, a secure youth treatment facility or any other locked facility.

With the total in hand, count how many of those months fall inside the most recent 22. Fifteen or more triggers the requirement. And once the requirement has been satisfied once, no further action or documentation is needed for any later 22-month period.