Arizona Laws 8-829. Judicial determinations; timing; documentation
A. If a child has been removed from the child’s home, the court shall make protecting the child from abuse or neglect the first priority and shall make the following determinations within the following time periods:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 8-829
- Abuse: means the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behavior and which emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and is caused by the acts or omissions of an individual who has the care, custody and control of a child. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Adult: means a person who is eighteen years of age or older. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Department: means the department of child safety. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Juvenile court: means the juvenile division of the superior court when exercising its jurisdiction over children in any proceeding relating to delinquency, dependency or incorrigibility. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- neglected: means :
(a) The inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care if that inability or unwillingness causes substantial risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, except if the inability of a parent, guardian or custodian to provide services to meet the needs of a child with a disability or chronic illness is solely the result of the unavailability of reasonable services. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Petition: means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Qualified young adult: means a former dependent child who is at least eighteen years of age and not over twenty-one years of age, who meets the criteria for an extended foster care program pursuant to Section 8-521. See Arizona Laws 8-201
- Wilfully: means , with respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an offense, that a person is aware or believes that the person's conduct is of that nature or that the circumstance exists. See Arizona Laws 1-215
1. In the court’s first order that sanctions the removal, whether continuation of the child’s residence in the home would be contrary to the welfare of the child. This order may be the temporary order that the court issues on the filing of a dependency petition.
2. At the preliminary protective hearing, whether the department made attempts to identify and assess placement with the child’s grandparent or another member of the child’s extended family including a person who has a significant relationship with the child.
3. Within sixty days after the child is removed from the child’s home, whether reasonable efforts have been made to prevent removal of the child or whether it was reasonable to make no efforts to prevent removal of the child.
4. If the child is not placed with a grandparent or another member of the child’s extended family including a person who has a significant relationship with the child within sixty days after the child is removed from the child’s home, why such placement is not in the best interests of the child. The petitioner has the burden of presenting evidence that such placement is not in the child’s best interests at the first court hearing thereafter.
5. Within twelve months after the child is removed from the child’s home and once every twelve months thereafter, whether reasonable efforts have been made to finalize the existing permanency plan.
6. If the child is under three years of age, within six months after the child is removed from the child’s home, whether reasonable efforts have been made to provide reunification services to the parent and whether a parent of a child who is under three years of age has substantially neglected or wilfully refused to participate in reunification services offered by the department.
B. Within one hundred twenty days after the department submits a qualified young adult‘s signed voluntary agreement to participate in an extended foster care program pursuant to Section 8-521.02, the juvenile court shall determine whether the participation is in the qualified young adult‘s best interest.
C. The court shall make each determination described in subsection A or B on a case-by-case basis and shall set forth in its written order the specific factual basis for each determination. In making its determination, the court shall consider documentation that is reasonably available at the time of the determination.