A client came to us after being charged with neglect. The Department of Children Services took the child from her and put the child to another family member as temporary caregiver. At the first hearing she lost control of herself and put a knife to the throat of temporary caregiver and in the ensuing scuffle she cut someone coming to the aid of the caregiver.
She was arrested and charged with several serious felonies. She secured the services of an outstanding criminal attorney who directed her to use us in an attempt to regain any rights to her children. Before we entered the case she all of her rights to her children taken from her by the Judge in the Children's Court.
When we came in we were able to convince the court to give her limited access to see her children under the supervision of a court approved monitor.
She subsequently plead guilty to some of the charges and was given a short sentence to be served in Los Angeles County Jail. While she was i9n jail all of her rights were revoked.
When she was released we immediately went to the Children's Court and filed for a hearing to reinstate her rights and for additional time to prove our client was fit to resume full parental rights. She was again granted a limited right to visitation under the supervision of a court approved monitor.
Over the next year we had a series of hearings in which we were granted additional continuances to prove our client's rehabilitation and fitness as a parent. After many hearings over approximately eighteen months the court did grant our client her full parental rights including joint legal custody and regular visits that included unsupervised overnight visitation.
