Does section 361.4, subdivision (d)(2) of the California Juvenile Code prohibit the juvenile court from ignoring a disabling criminal conviction?

The italicized language of section 361.4 subdivision (d)(2) is plain: the statute is mandatory. It is a well-settled principle that the word "shall" in statutes is usually construed as a mandatory term. (Common Cause v. Board of Supervisors (1989) 49 Cal.3d 432, 443.)

Section 361.4, subdivision (d)(2) does not confer on the juvenile court any discretion to avoid its prohibition. The section applies broadly to anyone involved in placement because the clause is stated in the passive form. That is, the phrase "the child shall not be placed in the home," lacks a subject with the result that it clearly forbids the juvenile court, as well as social workers and the department, to place a child with someone who has a disqualifying criminal conviction. "[W]here . . . the language is clear, there can be no room for interpretation." (Walker v. Superior Court (1988) 47 Cal.3d 112, 121, internal quotation marks omitted.) The plain language of section 361.4, subdivision (d)(2) simply precludes the juvenile court from ignoring a disabling criminal conviction.