What can I show the dependency court judge that custody or visitation with me is in the “best interest of the child”?

If you are the child’s parent and want to reunite with your child, AND your parental rights have NOT yet been ended (“terminated”), you generally have the right to reunite with your child even if you have a criminal record (so long as you don’t have a conviction that automatically bans contact with your child, see PG. 726 and even while you are incarcerated.[2453]

Regardless of your criminal record, you will need to show that reuniting with your child will be in your child’s best interest and will not put your child at risk of harm.

It will help to show the dependency court judge proof of the following:

    Rehabilitation: Showing evidence that you have treatment for drug or alcohol use or even parenting or counseling courses can help. Before your hearing, you should ask for any paperwork that shows the dates of your treatment or meetings you attended. You may also want to bring letters of support from your counselors.
    Letters of Support: These can be from case managers, teachers, family, friends, and others who know both you and your child.
    Proof of Housing and Income: By showing evidence of where you live and proof of where you work can also help. You may also consider showing the court a budget of how you plan to provide for both you and your child financially to show that you have thought and planned to be reunited with your child.
    Proof that you are successfully complying with all conditions of your probation, parole, or community supervision.[2454]

Other things you can do to show the judge that you are serious about reuniting with your child and are ready to have increased caregiving responsibilities and rights include the following:

    Visit your child as much as you can; and
    Address the issues that caused Child Protective Services (CPS) and/or the court to get involved in the first place (for example, work on dealing with substance abuse, anger management, and other issues).

Finally, the judge is more likely to give you visitation rights sooner than full custody rights, regardless of your criminal record. Under state law, it is generally assumed that it’s in a child’s best interest to have visits with his/her parent(s); judges are encouraged to give visitation rights to the parent(s), so long as the visits will not be harmful to the child.[2455] To decide whether visitation is in your child’s best interest, the judge will look at things like your relationship with your child, whether your child’s other parent (or caregiver) is in favor of the visits, whether your child wants to visit with you (depending on the child’s age), and how well you and your child get along during those visits—not just whether you have a criminal record.[2456]

IMPORTANT: Remember, you have a LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME to complete your dependency “case plan” requirements and reunite with your child. If your child’s dependency court case started or was happening while you were incarcerated, the clock may have already started to run during your time inside. This means you will have to work extra hard to complete all of your case plan requirements and show the judge that you’re ready to care for your child again once you get out (before your time runs out).[2457]

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  1. 2453

    If your child’s juvenile dependency case is still going on, CPS is supposed to make “reasonable efforts” to reunite you with your child, and the judge must offer you reunification services. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§ 361.5(a) (general right to reunification services), 361.5(e) (right to reasonable reunification services while incarcerated). ↑

  2. 2454

    See, e.g., Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code 366.22(a) (return of child to parent or guardian at permanency review hearing). ↑

  3. 2455

    Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 362.1. The judge may order you to have supervised visits if it has concerns about your child’s wellbeing during the visits. See PG. 780 for more information about supervised visitation. ↑

  4. 2456

    In re Emmanuel R., 94 Cal. App. 4th 452, 464-65 (2001) (upholding trial court’s finding that dependent child’s visitation with father was in child’s best interest, notwithstanding father’s “‘extensive’ criminal record). ↑

  5. 2457

    Remember, you have the right to reasonable reunification services even while you are incarcerated (with certain exceptions). You should take advantage of any services and/or other programing that are available, and make every effort to stay in touch with your child, during your sentence. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 361.5(e); see also, e.g., V.C. v. Sup. Ct., 188 Cal. App. 4th 521 (2010) (holding that father’s failure to participate in available reunification services while incarcerated justified trial court’s decision to terminate reunification services and provided evidence that returning child to father’s custody would be detrimental). ↑