Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.28 · Article 10. Dependent Children—Judgments and Orders
Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.28
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that delays caused by appeals from court orders designating the specific placement of a dependent child after parental rights have been terminated may cause a substantial detriment to the child. The Legislature recognizes that the juvenile court intervenes in placement decisions after parental rights have been terminated only in exceptional circumstances, and this section is not intended to place additional authority or responsibility on the juvenile court.
(b) (1) After parental rights have been terminated pursuant to Section 366.26, an order by the court that a dependent child is to reside in, be retained in, or be removed from a specific placement, is not appealable at any time unless all of the following apply:
(A) A petition for extraordinary writ review was filed in a timely manner.
(B) The petition substantively addressed the specific issues to be challenged and supported that challenge by an adequate record.
(C) The petition was summarily denied or otherwise not decided on the merits.
(2) Failure to file a petition for extraordinary writ review within the period specified by rule of court, to substantively address the specific placement order that is challenged, or to support that challenge by an adequate record shall preclude subsequent review by appeal of the findings and orders made pursuant to this section.
(c) This section does not affect the right of a parent, a legal guardian, or the child to appeal any order that is otherwise appealable and that is issued at a hearing held pursuant to Section 366.26.
(d) The Judicial Council shall adopt a rule of court on or before January 1, 2005, to implement this section. This section shall become operative after the rule of court is adopted.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 249, Sec. 3. Effective August 23, 2004. Section operative on date prescribed in subd. (d).
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC§ionNum=366.28.
- Text hash
- sha256 d6575f0d43efa183dfddae2180216619abce62b3d4d0958410bd93abef4b2b95
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- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Welfare and Institutions Code
Cited by 4 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Welf. & Inst. Code, § 366.28. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Welfare and Institutions Code
California Rules of Court
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.400ApplicationPrinted as Welfare and Institutions Code sections 366.26 and 366.28
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.454Notice of intent to file writ petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.28 to review order designating specific placement of a dependent child after termination of parental rightsPrinted as Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.28
- Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.485ApplicationPrinted as Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.28
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