SAN FRANCISCO — A California appeals court upheld the appointment of a public guardian as a conservator of a minor, despite the minor’s arguments that the conservatorship failed to comply with the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) as well as violated her due process rights.
The minor, who was referred to as “M.B.” in the court document certified for publication Sept. 12 by the state's 1st District Court or Appeal, Division Five, had also argued that the conservatorship investigator failed to conduct an adequate investigation of all available alternatives to conservatorship and failed to prove that the teen was “gravely disabled.”
“We conclude the court did not err because … there was no substantial evidence that suitable alternatives to conservatorship were available,” the appeals court said. “Accordingly, we discern no violation of minor’s due process rights.”
The court also wrote that the investigation “was inadequate, but nonetheless determined – based on the testimony of minor’s psychiatrist, therapist, and her child welfare worker – that minor was gravely disabled and needed to be conserved.”
The minor, according to the documents, had suffered “multiple involuntary hospitalizations,” as well as suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorders.
The public guardian had petitioned Alameda County Superior Court to establish a conservatorship for the minor in March 2017. The 16-year-old had been placed in the care of Alameda County’s Child Protective Services one year prior. After a number of continuances, the court held a bench trial for the appointment of conservator in August 2017. “Based on testimony from minor, her psychiatrist, her child welfare worker, the conservatorship investigator and her therapist, the court granted the petition.”
California Court of Appeal 1st Appellate District, Division Five, case No. A152586