Writing the WIC 366.26 Hearing Report
0300-503.20 | Revision Date: 12/24/2024

Overview

This policy guide specifies the requirements and procedures for preparing and submitting the WIC Section 366.26 hearing report.

Table of Contents

Version Summary

This policy guide was updated from the 03/23/18 version to provide CSWs guidance regarding a parent’s ability to present evidence at a WIC 366.26 hearing in an effort to establish the parental-benefit exception (Caden C.) to avoid termination of parental rights, pursuant to WIC 366.26(c)(1)(B)(i) or one of the other exceptions listed in said code.

POLICY

WIC 366.26 Hearings

The WIC section 366.26 hearing report identifies and implements a permanent plan for a dependent child of the juvenile court and a nonminor dependent. It should incorporate input and recommendations as discussed through the Child and Family Team process.

The WIC section 366.26 hearing is ordered by the court to:

  • Terminate parental rights,
  • Establish legal guardianship,
  • Order the plan of tribal customary adoption, or
  • Order a child to be placed with a fit and willing relative or in Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA).

The WIC 366.26 hearing is calendared within one hundred and twenty (120) days of:

  • A dispositional hearing at which the court ordered no Family Reunification (FR) services for all parents; or
  • A status review hearing at which the court ordered the termination of FR services for all parents or
  • A Review of a Permanent Plan Hearing.

The exception is that a WIC 366.26 hearing must not be ordered for a nonminor dependent (NMD) unless:

  • The NMD is a Native American child and tribal customary adoption is recommended as the permanent plan.

Note that if an NMD requests adoption with an adult determined to be the NMD's permanent connection, the court may order adoption of the NMD pursuant to subdivision (f) of WIC Section 366.31.

For information on Tribal Customary Adoption (TCA) refer to Adopting and Serving Children Under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).sample

Legal guardianship is one of the permanent plans available for children when family reunification is not achieved. A legal guardian is assessed as to their ability to, among other things, exercise proper care and control of the child, accept legal and financial responsibility for the child; and provide the commitment, willingness, and ability to raise the child. While the Court has the option to keep jurisdiction open after granting legal guardianship, the general expectation consistent with this assessment, is that a family will safely be able to exit the court and child welfare systems when legal guardianship is granted.

For families whose cases remain open with continued court jurisdiction, the court and the Department continue to remain involved in their lives. Terminating jurisdiction and closing the cases, when it is safe and appropriate to do so, allows the children/families to have a better sense of normalcy.


Staff should refer to Procedural Guides Concurrent Planning and the Concurrent Planning Assessment (0080-507.20) and Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment Program (0100-520.35) and form DCFS 5620, Comparison of Legal and Financial Benefits, Adoption, Legal Guardianship, Fit & Willing Relative and Another Planned Permanent Living, to provide families with accurate and comprehensive information regarding the different permanency options. This allows families to make informed decisions that result in the most appropriate recommendations to the court.

  • The Kin-GAP policy explains the Kin-GAP eligibility criteria, including the expanded definition of "relative" (referred to as fictive kin) for purposes of Federal Kin-GAP funding which includes an approved Nonrelative Extended Family Member (NREFM), an Native American Custodian or child's tribal member, or a foster parent who meets certain criteria.
  • Non-related legal guardians can qualify as fictive kin/relatives only when entering Kin-GAP program and must have been eligible for six consecutive months of federal funding prior to the termination of court jurisdiction. The SOC 369 and SOC 369A forms must be signed prior to court granting guardianship to avoid losing federal funding eligibility. Revenue Enhancement will need the original forms to process Kin-GAP. In the event that the Court keeps jurisdiction open after granting legal guardianship, the family may still qualify for federal Kin-GAP later as long as the SOC 369 and SOC 369A forms are signed prior to court granting guardianship and all other eligibility requirements are met.
  • Staff should consult with Revenue Enhancement’s Kin-GAP Manager/section regarding eligibility criteria prior to recommending Kin-GAP to the court.
  • With very few exceptions, eligible legal guardianship cases should be closed with Kin-GAP in place, in lieu of becoming non-court Non-Related Legal Guardianship cases (NRLG).
  • Refer to Legal Permanent Plans for Children for a table of the required approval including when Kin-GAP is not recommended with legal guardianship recommendations. Recommendations of Fit and Willing Relative, APPLA, Legal Guardianship with a non-relative, Legal Guardianship with a kin or fictive relative with open court jurisdiction requires ARA and RA approval.

If a prospective legal guardian expresses a desire to keep their case open, staff should inquire regarding their reasons and explore solutions to address their concerns.

In some situations, a prospective legal guardian may need more time before assuming the responsibilities of a legal guardian, thus staff must evaluate if it is appropriate to postpone a legal guardianship recommendation. Court reports must specifically document reasonable efforts already completed and those planned by the Child and Family Team to address the barriers to permanency and a projected timeline for the caregiver to assume guardianship and the family to exit the court and child welfare systems when safe and appropriate to do so.


Recent legislation authorizes the assessment of a legal guardian to also include the naming of a prospective successor guardian if one is identified. In the event of the incapacity or death of an appointed guardian, it would authorize the named successor guardian to be assessed and appointed pursuant to the existing procedures that govern the appointment of a legal guardian.

WIC 366.26 Hearing Report

Reporting Responsibilities

Responsibilities for writing the WIC 366.26 hearing report depend upon the recommended permanent plan.

Recommended Plan

Individual Completing the Report

Adoption

Dependency Investigator (DI) & Adoptions Division CSW

Legal Guardianship (including Kin-GAP)

Dependency Investigator

Fit and Willing Relative

Case-Carrying CSW

Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) [for youth sixteen (16) years old and older when there is no other available permanent plan]

Case-Carrying CSW

For vertical case management sections that do not have DIs, the DI’s responsibilities are carried out by the case-carrying CSW.

A 366.26 DI may be assigned up to thirty (30) days following the setting of the WIC 366.26 hearing.

  • To refer the case to a DI, the case-carrying CSW must complete and submit a DCFS 4141, Request for Assignment of 26 DI, and the appropriate attachments prior to any WIC 366.26 hearing being set.
  • The case-carrying CSW must take on additional task responsibilities if the DCFS 4141 is submitted on or after the WIC 366.26 hearing is set.

The permanent plan may change after the DI’s receipt of the case packet. In those cases:

  • The case-carrying CSW will submit a court report to address the change and provide any additional documents necessary, such as a revised Concurrent Planning Assessment (CPA).
  • The DI or the case-carrying CSW that the permanent plan responsibilities change to will also be responsible for completing the WIC 366.26 hearing report.
  • At the discretion of the DI SCSW, a different DI may be assigned to write the WIC 366.26 hearing report if the plan changes from legal guardianship to adoption.

CSW should submit a CPA request no later than 90 days prior to recommending terminating FR.

If an Adoptions Division CSW is not yet assigned and the permanent plan is Adoption, the CPA should be submitted as soon as the decision is made to recommend no FR in order to request activation of an Adoptions Division CSW.

For any WIC 366.26 report not written by the case-carrying CSW, they are to be consulted either on the readiness to proceed with termination of parental rights or on any change of recommendation.

Timeframes

Time frames for submitting the WIC 366.26 hearing report are as follows:

Submit to

Time Frame

SCSW

No later than thirty (30) calendar days prior to the hearing date.

Court Processing Unit (CPU)

No later than twenty (20) calendar days prior to the court hearing.

Juvenile Court Services JCS

No later than twelve (12) judicial days prior to the hearing.

Court Room

No later than noon, ten (10) judicial days prior to the hearing.


*A court report must be available in the Justice Partner Portal no later than 8:30 a.m., ten (10) days before the actual hearing. Staff must e-file the report the day before it is due to allow enough time for the report to be accepted by the Justice Partner Portal. Note that hearings with a set Receipt of Report (ROR) date are the exception and there is no requirement to file a report ten (10) days before the ROR date. When the court sets an ROR date, the report must be filed and viewable by 8:30 a.m. on the ROR date. In these cases, the report must be e-filed at least one (1) day before the ROR date to ensure that the report is e-filed successfully.

Caregiver Requests to be Designated as a Prospective Adoptive Parent

Cases that meet all of the following criteria may be eligible to request that a prospective adoptive parent (PAP) be designated:

  • Parental rights have been terminated,
  • A child has resided for six (6) months or more in the home of a prospective adoptive parent or of a caregiver who has met the threshold criteria to be designated as a prospective adoptive parent,
  • A caregiver currently expresses a commitment to adopt the child, and
  • A caregiver has taken at least one step to facilitate adoption.

The court may make a designation on its own motion or upon a request by a caregiver, a child, or an attorney for any of these parties.

  • CSWs can ask the court to designate a caretaker as a PAP but CSWs have to make sure they are not referring to a caretaker as a PAP until the court has made the designation.

A request for designation as a prospective adoptive parent (PAP) may be made at or after a hearing where parental rights are terminated, whether or not the child’s removal from the home is an issue.

  • A completed JV-321, Request for Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation, Notice, and Order, must be submitted with the request to the court.
    • Upon receipt of the JV-321 request, the court will evaluate whether the caregiver meets the threshold criteria for a prospective adoptive parent.
    • The court will issue a JV-327, Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation Order, reflecting its resulting findings and orders.
  • If there is a need to keep an address or telephone number confidential, a JV-322, Confidential Information-Prospective Adoptive Parent, must be filed.

The following actions are required under case-specific situations:

Situation

Required Actions

All parties, including DCFS, agree to request designation of a caregiver as a prospective adoptive parent.

  • The court may order the designation without a hearing.

The court has ordered a hearing on a request for designation of a prospective adoptive parent.

  • The Court Clerk’s Office is responsible for providing notice of the hearing to parties.

The child’s attorney makes the request.

  • The child’s attorney must provide notice to all parties.

A caregiver makes the request for designation at the same time an objection to the removal of a dependent child from their home is made.

  • The court must set a hearing date as soon as possible on the issue and no later than five (5) court days after the objection was filed.

The request for designation is made before a request for removal is filed or before an emergency removal has occurred.

  • The court must order that the hearing be set within thirty (30) calendar days after the filling of the request for designation.
  • JV-328, Prospective Adoptive Parent Order After Hearing, reflects the court’s findings and orders from the hearing.

Parent-Child Beneficial Relationship Exception (Caden C.)

In May 2021, the California Supreme Court issued an opinion providing new guidance on the application of the parental-benefit exception at the 366.26 hearing. (In re Caden C. (2021) 11 Cal.5th 614.). The parental-benefit exception applies when the juvenile court "finds a compelling reason for determining that termination of parental rights would be detrimental to the child" when the "parents have maintained regular visitation and contact with the child and the child would benefit from continuing the relationship." (WIC 366.26(c)(1)(B)(i).)

CSWs serve an essential role to the juvenile court by providing unbiased information and professional assessments and recommendations. The California Supreme Court has endorsed the concept that CSWs are a "special arm of the court to investigate the status of children and report." (In re Malinda S. (1990) 51 Cal.3d 368, 377, fn. 8; citing Swain v. Swain (1967) 250 Cal.App.2d 1, 8.)

To that end, it is important that, throughout the life of a case, CSWs document:

  1. The nature and quality of the interaction between the child and parent,
  2. The extent of the emotional attachment the child has to the parent, and
  3. The frequency and duration of family time and other parent-child contact during the dependency proceedings.

Refer to Procedural Guide 0400-504.00, Family Time for detailed information regarding family time that should be included in every court report.

At a WIC 366.26 hearing, the parent must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, the following:

  1. Consistent and regular family time and contact between the parent and the child. CSWs should document in court reports:
    • Whether the parent maintained regular family time and contact with the child to the extent permitted by court orders;
    • Whether the family time and contact continued or developed a substantial, positive, emotional attachment from the child to the parent; and
    • The dates and duration the parent engaged in family time with the child, the dates the parent cancelled or failed to appear for family time, and the attachment the parent had with the child.
  1. An assessment whether a substantial, positive, emotional attachment from the child to the parent exists is based on several factors, including but not limited to:
    • The age of the child;
    • The portion of the child’s life spent in the parent’s custody;
    • The positive or negative effect of the interaction between the parent and the child;
    • The child’s particular needs and how the parent does or does not meet them;
    • How the child feels about, interacts with, looks to, or talks about the parent
      • Consider asking the child how they feel about the family time and/or the parent, if determined to the developmentally appropriate;
    • How much comfort, nourishment, physical care, and/or sense of security and stability the parent provides the child during the family time and other contacts;
    • Whether the child views the parent as more of a friend or playmate rather than a parent;
    • Whether the child is ambivalent, detached, or indifferent to the parent;
    • Whether the relationship has negative features, from the perspective of the child (i.e. child is parentified);
    • How the child reacted towards the parent in time of crisis such as crying or distress; and
    • How the parent performed as the Education Rights Holder. Were the parents available and actively participated in educational decisions? Did the parents make educational decisions that promoted the child's academic progress?
  1. Does severing the relationship outweigh the security, finality, and sense of belonging an adoption would provide? Factors include, but are not limited to:
    • What would life be like for the child in the adoptive home without the parent in the child's life? (how?, if at all, would the child be affected?);
    • Whether severing the relationship would cause emotional instability and preoccupation leading to acting out, difficulties in school, insomnia, anxiety, or depression;
    • Whether adoption would create the sense of stability that the child needs;
    • Whether a parent’s struggles with substance abuse, mental health issues, or other problems make termination of parental rights more or less detrimental to the child
      • The parent's struggles with issues such as those that led to dependency are relevant only to the extent they inform the specific questions before the court: whether the child would benefit from continuing the relationship or be harmed by losing it; not whether the parent is likely to ever resume custody of the child;
    • Whether the parent's conduct, related to the reasons for dependency or otherwise,
      1. Impacted the amount of family time or contact with the child
      2. The nature of that family time or contact, or
      3. Negatively affected the parent-child relationship or the stability of the child's placement; and
    • Whether losing the relationship with the parent would harm the child to an extent not outweighed, on balance, by the security of a new, adoptive home.

The following factors cannot be considered by the court and DCFS and must be avoided when assessing if the child has a substantial, positive, emotional attachment with the parent and/or whether severing the relationship would be detrimental to the child:

  • A comparison of the parent’s abilities as a caregiver with those of the potential adoptive parent.
  • A parent’s inability to regain custody – a parent’s struggles are relevant to the extent that they provide the court with information necessary for the areas set forth above.
  • A post-adoption contact agreement – the court must assume the termination of parental rights terminates the parent-child relationship (The court and DCFS must operate under the assumption that the child will never see or communicate with the parent again, even if the caregiver is a relative and plans on allowing contact).
  • That a parent only has monitored or virtual family time with the child.
    • The California Supreme Court in Caden C. and subsequent Court of Appeal opinions have established that a parent may continue or develop a substantial, positive emotional attachment with the child during monitored or virtual family time.
  • Whether the parent has continued or developed a parental role toward or primary attachment for the child.
    • Refrain from the use of terms such as “parental role” or “primary attachment” in assessments and recommendations; instead focus on the extent, if any, of a substantial, positive, emotional attachment the child has toward the parent.

Although the parent has the burden to prove the parent-child beneficial relationship exists to prevent the court from terminating parental rights, DCFS should provide the court with the detailed information set forth above in the WIC 366.26 court report. In the case of a Native American child, the child's Tribe should be consulted regarding any recommendation to terminate parental rights and whether the Tribe believes there would be detriment to terminate the relationship. Consult with the SCSW and County Counsel for assistance with assessments, recommendations, and the court report when there are questions regarding the existence of the parental-child beneficial relationship exception.

PROCEDURE

Preparing for a Hearing Regarding a Request to Designate a Prospective Adoptive Parent

Case-Carrying CSW Responsibilities

  1. Upon notification that a hearing is set regarding a request to designate a caregiver as a prospective adoptive parent:
    1. Consult with your SCSW and the County Counsel to determine if DCFS should oppose the request.
    2. If an Adoptions Division CSW is assigned to the case, include them and their SCSW in the consultation.
    3. If it is determined that DCFS will not oppose the request, either:
      • Ask the County Counsel to notify the court of the decision, or
      • Send a brief report with the decision to the court
    4. If it is determined that DCFS will oppose the request, consult with County Counsel as to what report, if any, must be prepared for the hearing and whether or not it will be necessary to appear at the hearing.

Creating the 366.26 Hearing Report

Dependency Investigator (DI) Responsibilities

  1. Upon receipt of the DCFS 4141, Request for Assignment of 26 DI, and its corresponding attachments, interview all parties.
    1. Ensure that the completed SOC 369 and SOC 369A, and other requirements are attached for Kin-GAP recommendations.
  2. If the DCFS 4141 is received prior to setting the WIC 366.26 hearing, send appropriate notice to all required parties.
  3. Create the WIC 366.26 hearing report in CWS/CMS no later than forty (40) days before the hearing.
    1. Complete the sections by referring to Completing the WIC 366.26 Hearing Report.
    2. CSW/CMS automatically populates the name of the designated primary CSW.  Other CSW's contributing to the content of the report must enter their name at the top left hand corner of the report.  In addition, take note that the signatory line automatically populates too. The last CSW or SCSW signing the report may need to delete pre-populated names and add their own.

CSW Preparing the Report Responsibilities

  1. Make sure that all identifying information and court information in the CWS/CMS database is recorded and current, and as applicable the required actions and requirements have been completed in evaluating the appropriateness of the recommendation.
  2. Complete the appropriate SDM reassessments.
    1. Incorporate the information gathered from these tools into the court report.
    2. Do not attach the SDM tools, unless ordered to do so by the court.
  3. Manually complete any field on the report that is not populated by the database and delete the heading to any unnecessary sections.
    • If the .26 DI is completing the report, they must complete the Terminating Parental Rights (TPR) case review.
      1. In the case of a Native American child, the child's Tribe should be consulted regarding any recommendation to terminate parental rights and whether the Tribe believes there would be detriment to terminate the relationship.
    • Addressing the Parent-Child Beneficial Relationship Exception (Caden C.)
      1. Refer to CS CSW’s documentation regarding the quantity and quality of visitations between the child and parent(s).
      2. DI CSW/SCSW shall have a staffing with CS and Adoption sections to discuss any needed collaboration for the 366.26 report and obtain a detail understanding about:
        • The nature and quality of the interaction between the child and parent,
        • The extent of the emotional attachment the child has to the parent, and
        • The frequency and duration of family time and other parent-child contact during the dependency proceedings. Refer to Procedural Guide 0400-504.00, Family Time for detailed information regarding family time that should be included in every court report. 
  4. Following completion of the WIC 366.26 hearing report, obtain all necessary approvals for the report and Case Plan Update. Recommendations of Fit and Willing Relative, APPLA, Legal Guardianship with a non-relative, Legal Guardianship with a kin or fictive relative with open court jurisdiction requires ARA and RA approval.
  5. Route the report and all attachments, including the completed DCFS 203, Interested Parties Mailing List & Photocopy Request, to DCFS support staff for final preparation and delivery to court. As applicable , attach the action plan to the court report.

Completing the WIC 366.26 Hearing Report

Refer to Completing the WIC 366.26 Hearing Report for guidance on completing the WIC 366.26 Report.

SCSW Responsibilities

  1. Review the WIC 366.26 hearing report and all supporting documents, including any SDM tools used.
    1. If appropriate, sign and date or electronically approve the report for return to the CSW/SCSW.
    2. If necessary, return the packet to the CSW/SCSW for corrective action.
    3. Forward any recommendation of Fit and Willing Relative, APPLA, Legal Guardianship with a non-relative, Legal Guardianship with a kin or fictive relative with open court jurisdiction to the ARA and RA for approval.
  2. If adoption-related sections are to be completed, the Adoptions Division SCSW will notify the DI SCSW within three (3) days of approving of the Adoptions Division CSW’s section(s) of the report.
  3. The WIC 366.26 DI SCSW will notify case-carrying CSW and their supervisor once all sections of the report, including that of the Adoptions Division CSW, are complete and ready for review.
    1. If the case-carrying CSW and case-carrying SCSW have any concerns with the report, confer with them to resolve the issue(s).
    2. Case-carrying SCSWs will notify the DI SCSWs of one (1) of the following within three (3) days:
      1. That the report is complete
      2. That there is need to confer about existing concerns
  4. The WIC 366.36 report, including all #approvals, must be submitted to the court at least ten (10) judicial days prior to the scheduled WIC 366.26 hearing, or by the date set by Court.

ARA Responsibilities

  1. Review the report and any supporting documents.
    1. If approved and applicable, forward the report packet to the RA/Division Chief for approval.
    2. If not approved, return the report packet to the SCSW for corrective action.

RA/Division Chief Responsibilities

  1. Review the report and any supporting documents.
    1. If approved, sign and date the report, and return it to the SCSW.
    2. If not approved, return the report packet to the SCSW for corrective action.

Adoptions Division CSW Responsibilities

  1. After the WIC 366.26 hearing report is created in CWS/CMS, add any relevant portions directly onto the report.
  2. Generate the report on CWS/CMS, if it has not been generated, no sooner than thirty-nine (39) days prior to the hearing to ensure the notice information populates.
  3. Add the Resource Family Approval Progress Report attachment, if the RFA approval is currently under study by a Resource Family Approval Division (RFA) CSW.
  4. Designate the sections you or the DI completed by noting the following phrases at the beginning and end of each section:
    • "This section is respectfully submitted by [NAME]."
    • "This concludes the section respectfully submitted by [NAME]."

RFA CSW Responsibilities

  1. If the prospective Adoptive/Legal Guardian Family is currently being assessed by RFA, provide the Resource Family Approval Progress Report to the CSWs (DI, Adoptions CSW and CS CSWs, as applicable) so they can complete the 366.26 report.
APPROVALS

SCSW Approval

ARA Approval

Adoptions Division ARA

RA or Division Chief Approval

HELPFUL LINKS

Attachments

Completing the WIC 366.26 Hearing Report

Approval Required for Legal Permanent Plans for Children

Forms

LA Kids

DCFS 203, Interested Parties Mailing List & Photocopy Request

DCFS 4141, Request for Assignment of 26 DI

DCFS 5520 (Spanish), An Introduction to the Post Adoption Contact Agreement

DCFS 5620, Comparison of Legal and Financial Benefits Adoption, Legal Guardianship, and Planned Permanent Living Arrangement

JV-350-INFO (Spanish), Information on Juvenile Court Guardianship

CWS/CMS

JV-290, Caregiver Information Form

JV-505, Statement Regarding Paternity (Juvenile Dependency)

REFERENCED POLICY GUIDES

0080-505.20, Health and Education Passport (HEP)

0080-505.10, Youth Development: Transitional Independent Living Planning

0100-520.35, Kinship Guardianship Assistance Payment (Kin-GAP) Program

0080-507.20, Concurrent Planning and the Concurrent Planning Assessment

0200-510.00, Postadoption Services

0300-303.07, Non-Disclosure Orders

0300-306.05, Noticing Process for Juvenile Court Proceedings

0300-306.75, Due Diligence

0300-508.30, Identifying and Notifying the Court of Recurring Efforts to Locate Relatives and Nonrelative Extended Family Members (NREFMs)

0900-523.10, Social Security (SS)/Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Benefits for Children in Care

1200-500.05, Adopting and Serving Children under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)

1200-500.50, Photographic Identification of Children

STATUTES AND OTHER MANDATES

All County Letter (ACL) 16-28 – Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA)

 

California Rules of Court (CROC) Section 5.725 – States that the court may not terminate the rights of only one parent under section 366.26 unless that parent is the only surviving parent, the rights of the other parent have already been terminated, or the other parent has relinquished custody of the child to the welfare department.

Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 224 – Sets forth legislative findings and declarations on the importance of maintaining Indian families together by providing active efforts to prevent the out-of-home placement of the child or to return an Indian child home.

WIC Sections 360(a) – State Kin-GAP eligibility requirements.

WIC Section 366.21(I)(6) – States that whenever a court orders that a Section 366.26 hearing be held, the agency supervising the child and the licensed county adoption agency are to prepare an assessment which shall include a description of efforts to be made to identify a prospective adoptive parent or legal guardian, including, but not limited to, child specific recruitment and listing on an adoption exchange.

WIC Section 366.24(b) – States that whenever an assessment is ordered pursuant to Section 361.5, 366.21, 366.22, 366.25, or 366.26 for Indian children, the assessment shall address the option of tribal customary adoption.

WIC Section 366.26 – Sets forth the requirements and guidelines for the hearing terminating parental rights or establishing guardianship of children adjudged dependent of the court. States that if, following the establishment of a legal guardianship, the county welfare department becomes aware of changed circumstances that indicate adoption or, for an Indian child, tribal customary adoption, may be an appropriate plan for the child, the department must notify the court. The court may vacate its previous order dismissing dependency jurisdiction over the child and order that a hearing be held pursuant to WIC Section 366.26 to determine whether adoption or continued legal guardianship is the most appropriate plan for the child.

WIC Section 11363 – State Kin-GAP eligibility requirements.

WIC Section 16002(e) – States that if parental rights are terminated and the court orders a dependent child to be placed for adoption, the licensed county adoption agency or the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) will take steps to facilitate ongoing sibling contact, except in those cases where the court determines by clear and convincing evidence that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety or well-being of the child.