The minor appealed from the order which set the six month review hearing six months from the date of the disposition hearing, instead of the jurisdictional hearing. Welfare and Institutions Code section 361.5, subdivision (a)(3) mandates that services shall not exceed six months from the earlier of the date the child entered foster care, or the date of the jurisdictional hearing. Although that section speaks to the length of services, it suggests that the time lines are the same for the setting of the review hearing. Therefore, the review hearing should have been set in this case six months from the jurisdictional hearing. However, since the date of the review hearing came and went during the pendency of the appeal, no meaningful relief was available, and the juvenile courts order was therefore affirmed.
Case Summaries