California Welfare and Institutions Code 362.8 – (a) At a review hearing where a parent or guardian’s …
(a) At a review hearing where a parent or guardian‘s participation in reunification or family maintenance services is considered by the court, including, but not limited to, hearings pursuant to Sections 364, 366.21, 366.22, 366.25, and 388, the parent or guardian shall not be considered to be noncompliant with the court-ordered case plan when the court finds that the parent or guardian is unable to pay for a service or that payment for a service would create an undue financial hardship for the parent or guardian, and the social worker did not provide a comparable free service that was accessible and available to the parent or guardian to comply with the case plan during the period subject to the court’s review.
(b) For purposes of this section, a parent or guardian who qualifies for the services of court-appointed counsel pursuant to Section 317 is presumed to be unable to pay the cost of court-ordered services.
Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 362.8
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- social worker: shall include the juvenile probation officer or the person who is both the juvenile probation officer and the adult probation officer, and any social worker in a county welfare department or any social worker in a California Indian tribe or any out-of-state Indian tribe that has reservation land that extends into the state that has authority, pursuant to an agreement with the department concerning child welfare services or foster care payments under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program when supervising dependent children of the juvenile court pursuant to Section 272 by order of the court under Section 300, and the term "department of probation" shall mean the department of juvenile probation or the department wherein the services of juvenile and adult probation are both performed. See California Welfare and Institutions Code 215
(Added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 552, Sec. 3. (AB 954) Effective January 1, 2024.)