» Juvenile Dependency Proceedings

        Juvenile dependency proceedings are legal actions in which the State of Arizona, or a private individual, seeks the assistance of the Juvenile Court to determine if a child is any of the following:

1.	In need of proper and effective parental care and control and who has no parent or guardian, or one who has no parent or guardian willing to exercise or capable of exercising such care and control.
2.	Destitute or who is not provided with the necessities of life, including adequate food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, or whose home is unfit by reason of abuse, neglect, cruelty or depravity by a parent, a guardian, or any other person having custody or care of the child.
3.	Under the age of eight years and who is found to have committed an action that would result in adjudication as a dependent juvenile or incorrigible child if committed by an older juvenile or child.
4.	Incompetent or not restorable to competency and who is alleged to have committed a serious offense as defined as A.R.S 13-604.

       Abandoned means the failure of the parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with the child, including providing normal supervision.

       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 having care, custody and control of a child.

       Neglect or neglected means 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 or guardian 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.

       If the government wishes to terminate a parent's rights, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the grounds for termination exist. To be clear and convincing, it must be highly probable that an event or fact is true.

       The following are the steps involved in a dependency action:

1.	Dependency Petition Filed: The dependency petition is filed within 72 hours from removal, barring extenuating circumstances.
2.	Preliminary Protective Hearing: To determine temporary custody, services and placement, the preliminary protective hearing is held no more that 5-7 days from removal.
3.	Initial Dependency Hearing: This hearing is held separately from the preliminary protective hearing and is held no more than 21 days form the service of the petition.
4.	Settlement Conference: If parent denies the allegation in the dependency petition, then all parties come together and discuss the allegations and try to reach an agreement. The settlement conference is held no more than 30 days from the preliminary protective hearing.
5.	Pretrial Conference: If parent continues to deny the allegations in the dependency a pretrial trial conference is set to monitor progress of the case as it proceeds to trial.
6.	Adjudication Hearing: To determine if any of the allegations in the petition are true and justify continued court intervention, this hearing is held no more than 90 days from service of the petition.
7.	Disposition Hearing: To review the long-term plan for the child, that includes placement, services and future reviews, this hearing is held no more than 30 days from the adjudication hearing.
8.	Review Hearing: To review any progress in the case. If necessary, the court will also make changes to the case plan and issue needed orders. These hearings are held every 45 to 180 days.
9.	Permanency Hearing Planning: To determine a permanent plan for the child with respect to placement and parents. This hearing must be held within 12 months of the initial finding of dependency.
10.	Initial Termination Hearing: A initial termination hearing is set to monitor progress of the case as it proceeds to trial for termination of parent/child relationship. This hearing his held no more than 30 days from the permanency hearing.
11.	Termination of parental rights: To determine if the rights of the parent should be terminated and free the child for adoption, this hearing is held no more than 90 days from the permanency hearing, unless parent waives time.
12.	Adoption Hearing: To place the child with an adoptive family for permanent care.

       It should be noted that typically it is prohibitively expensive for a parent to retain private counsel to represent him or her in a dependency matter due to the large number of hearings, trial preparation and the drawn out and lengthy nature of dependency actions.