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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 63 September Term, 2005 __________________________________

IN RE: KAELA C., GUNNER C. AND FRANKLIN C.

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Bell, C.J. Raker Wilner Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene, JJ. __________________________________ Opinion by Battaglia, J. Wiln er, J., join s in th e jud gme nt on ly. __________________________________ Filed: September 8, 2006

Petitioner, Leslie C., seeks review of the Court of Special Appeals's judgment affirming the Circuit Court of Fre derick County's order in which it adopted the recommendations and findin gs of a m aster prior to the expiration o f the five-d ay period to file excep tions af forded by Mar yland Ru le 11-1 11 (c). We gran ted certiorari in th is case to answer the following questions: 1. Did the juv enile court err in entering an immediate order dismissing the CINA petitions without affording Petitioner an advance opportunity to file exceptions to the master's findings and recommendations? 2. Did the juv enile court d eprive Petitioner of her right to due process of law by dis missing the CINA petitions without affording her an adv ance opp ortunity to file exceptions to the master's finding and recommendations? 3. Did the Court of Special Appea ls err in applying its decision to Petitioner, who could not have known of the basis for that court's dec ision prior to a ppeal?

In re: Kaela C., 388 Md. 673, 882 A.2d 286 (2005). After the filing of briefs and oral argument, we issued an order requesting supplemental briefs and scheduling further proceedings on an additional issue: What is the effect , if any, on the p ending ap peal befo re this Court of the judicial proceedings that have been instituted in the State of California? We shall hold tha t the issues pre sented in M rs. C.'s petition f or a writ of certiorari are not moot because Mrs. C. continues to suffer collateral consequences from the circuit court's order transferring custody of the children to Mr. C. and that the circuit court erred in adopting the master's recommendations prior to the expiration of the five days for filing of exceptions

provided by Maryland R ule 11-111 (c). 1 I. Background Petitioner, Leslie C. (Mrs. C.), and Christoph er C. (M r. C.) are the b iological pare nts of Kaela C., Gunner C., and Franklin C . Mr. and M rs. C. were d ivorced in A ugust, 2001, and Mrs. C. was awarded legal and physical custody of the children. On December 2, 2003, in response to allegations of abuse, the Frederick County Department of Social Services ("DSS ") remove d all three children from Mrs. C.'s care, placed them in emergency shelter care 2 pursuant to its authority under Section 3-815 (b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article,3 and subse quently filed a p etition with the Circu it Court for F rederick C ounty

Because we will reverse both the decision of the Court of Special Appeals and the circuit court on that error alone, we shall not address the third issue that Mrs. C. raised in her petition for writ of certiorari, specifically, whether the intermediate appellate cou rt erred when it applied its dec ision to Petitioner. Shelter care "means a temporary placement of a child outside of the home at any time befo re disposition ." Maryland Code (1973, 2002 Repl. Vol.),

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