Constance K. v. Superior Court

In Constance K. v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 689, the court confronted the situation in which "a parent has largely complied with the reunification plan yet nonconclusory reports prepared by responsible professionals indicate the return of a minor ... would create a substantial risk of detriment to the children." ( Id. at p. 692.) There, the appellate court found sufficient evidence supported the lower court's finding of detriment because "the reports in the present case are not merely written in a conclusory fashion and they are corroborated by specific acts of conduct on the part of the mother indicative of her inability to parent and protect the children...." (Ibid.) Specifically, the court found evidence that the mother had not benefited from the case plan in the mother's inability to control the presence in the home of "fathers" who had been emotionally detrimental to the children, the mother's inability to feed, protect, control, and cope with the children on overnight visits, and the lingering negative effects of these visits on the children. ( Id. at pp. 708-709.) The court distinguished Blanca P. v. Superior Court (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1738, on which appellant relies, in that the finding there that the mother had not "internalized" parenting values was supported solely by conclusory reports by the social worker "'based on nebulous ideas more appropriate to an afternoon talk show than a court of law. '" ( Constance K., 61 Cal.App.4th at p. 711.)