Judge orders drug testing, halts in-person visits after mother reports relapse in Hernandez child-welfare case

At a Zoom status hearing in the Hernandez child-welfare case, the judge found a continuing danger to return the children home, ordered the mother to submit hair and urine drug tests and suspended her in-person visits until she tests negative, the court record shows.

The order came after the children’s mother, Wendy Martinez, reported by text that she had relapsed and was trying to get into inpatient rehabilitation. “I relapsed again. I’m really trying to get into rehab, but it’s been hard. I don’t have a way to go see the kids,” Martinez wrote, according to the caseworker’s report read into the record.

The action matters because the court placed the children with relatives and ordered the Department of Family and Protective Services to continue as temporary managing conservator and to use reasonable efforts to reunify the family. The judge also signed the family service plans as an order of the court and set the initial permanency hearing for Nov. 13 at 9 a.m.

DFPS caseworker “Mr. Abby” told the court the children are placed with family and are “very happy and playful, and they love to wrestle.” Abby said the children initially were placed with Giselle and Elizabeth, who were on vacation, and are temporarily staying with a relative named Sandra; a home study for Sandra is pending because one or two background checks remain outstanding.

Abby said he located the father in the Canadian County Jail in El Reno, Oklahoma, but had not yet had in-person contact. The judge directed the department to attempt service and to determine whether the alleged father wants genetic testing or counsel information. The father’s name was not stated on the record.

The department reported the younger child, Noel, is receiving or has been referred for Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) evaluation because caregivers said he is delayed compared with his sibling. “When I see him, he seems typical for a 2‑year‑old. He’s just still behind,” Abby said. Stacy Zavala, representing the children, urged the court to complete evaluations and to streamline the kinship-home approval so the children can remain with Sandra if appropriate. “We need to get Gael evaluated,” Zavala added.

The court discussed kinship payments and a pending daycare reimbursement; DFPS told the court the kinship worker had issued one check and was arranging an additional check for daycare. Abby told the court that Martinez had signed her copy of the family service plan on July 2 and that the department filed the plans on June 25.

The judge explicitly tied the visitation restriction to the mother’s admitted relapse and lack of drug screens. “I’m not going to allow the in-person visits until she gives us a negative UA,” the judge said, and ordered Martinez to provide hair and urine testing once the department can make contact.

The judge also stated the department should continue reasonable efforts to reunify. The court scheduled the next milestone: an initial permanency hearing on Nov. 13 at 9:00 a.m.

Several logistical items remained: the mother’s treatment entry and location were not specified on the record, and the alleged father’s preferences about testing and counsel must be established after service. The court record shows no formal vote was taken; the judge issued the orders from the bench.