CHILD DEPENDENCY BENCHBOOK - Tennessee Administrative Office ...

CHILD DEPENDENCY BENCHBOOK

Sixth Edition 2008

William M. Barker Chief Justice

Tennessee Supreme Court

Elizabeth A. Sykes Director

Administrative Office of the Courts

Leslie Barrett Kinkead, J.D., Coordinator Nyasha N. Justice, J.D., Court Improvement Attorney

Tennessee Court Improvement Program

Produced under the auspices of the Tennessee Court Improvement Program of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts, and the provisions of Section 13712 of Subchapter C, Part I of

the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993: Grants for State Courts

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CHILD DEPENDENCY

BENCHBOOK

Sixth Edition 2008

Edited by: Leslie Barrett Kinkead, J.D, Coordinator Nyasha N. Justice, J.D., Court Improvement Attorney Stacy L. Miller, J.D., Former Court Improvement Specialist Mary Rose Zingale, J.D., Former Court Improvement Specialist Cindy Wood MacLean, J.D, Former Coordinator Tennessee Court Improvement Program

Produced under the auspices of the Tennessee Court Improvement Program of the Tennessee Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts, and the provisions of Section 13712 of Subchapter C, Part I of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993: Grants for State Courts. The Tennessee Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Court Improvement

Program are grateful to the following persons and entities for their contributions to the first edition of this manual:

Karen Dennis, Jane Jarvis, David Kozlowski, Jeanah McClure, Janet Richards, Andrew Shookhoff, Mary Walker, and the Tennessee Association of Legal Services.

For more information about the Court Improvement Program, contact: Leslie Barrett Kinkead, Court Improvement Coordinator 511 Union Street, Suite 600, Nashville, TN 37219 Phone: (615) 741-2687; FAX: (615) 253-3423

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CHILD DEPENDENCY BENCHBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

1.0 The Right to Representation in Juvenile Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings..........................................................................................................1

2.0 Dependency Proceedings: Causes of Action, Jurisdiction and Venue.....................................14 3.0 Initiation of Dependency Cases: Petition; Summons; Referral to DCS ..................................17 4.0 Emergency Removal ....................................................................................................................21 5.0 Reasonable Efforts Inquiry; Reasonable Efforts Requirement;

Exceptions to Reasonable Efforts Requirement ........................................................................23 6.0 Preliminary Hearing Following Emergency Removal ..............................................................26 7.0 Discovery ......................................................................................................................................28 8.0 Assessment, Evaluation, and Treatment of a Child Pending Hearing ....................................29 9.0 The Adjudicatory Hearing ..........................................................................................................32 10.0 The Dispositional Hearing ...........................................................................................................37 11.0 Review of Decisions of the Referee in Dependency Proceedings..............................................41 12.0 The Permanency Process .............................................................................................................42 13.0 Permanency Guardianship..........................................................................................................49 14.0 The Permanency Hearing ............................................................................................................53 15.0 Petitions to Modify or Vacate Orders.........................................................................................56 16.0 Appeal to Circuit Court ..............................................................................................................58 17.0 Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings: Causes of Action, Jurisdiction and Venue ....62 18.0 Initiation of Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings ......................................................67 19.0 Pretrial Procedures in Termination of Parental Rights; Discovery; Authorization to Order

Examination of Child and/or Parent ..........................................................................................70

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20.0 Conduct of Termination of Parental Rights Hearing ...............................................................71 21.0 Appeals in Termination of Parental Rights Cases; Procedures for Expediting Appeals ......72

PART II: CASE LAW (Current through December, 2005)

1.0 Jurisdiction of Juvenile Court in Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings .........................................................................................................................1

2.0 Fundamental Liberty Interests of Parents ...................................................................................9 3.0 Evidentiary and Procedural Issues .............................................................................................21 4.0 Legal Grounds for Finding of Dependency and Termination of Parental Rights..................31 5.0 Miscellaneous................................................................................................................................68

PART III: RESOURCES

Department of Children's Services ? Flexible Funds...............................................................................1 Department of Children's Services ? Health Unit Staff...........................................................................9 Department Of Children's Services ? Independent Living Specialists ................................................12 Department Of Children's Services ? Education Specialists/Education Attorneys ............................14 Summary Of The Brian A. Settlement ....................................................................................................16 Brian A. Implementation Monitors .........................................................................................................21 Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) ? Regulation 7 ..........................................22 Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child Act .................................................................................25

PART IV: SAMPLE FORMS

Sample Motions and Orders for Compensation and Reimbursement of Appointed Counsel Order Appointing Counsel for Indigent Party in Dependency or Termination of Parental Rights Proceeding ...................................................................................1 Order Appointing Guardian ad Litem and Allowing Discovery ...........................................................2 Uniform Affidavit of Indigency ............................................................................................................3 Order Authorizing Reimbursement for Costs of Trial Transcript .........................................................5 Order Declaring Case Complex and/or Extended .................................................................................6

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Sample Motions and Orders for Dependency Litigation (cont.) Protective Custody Order ......................................................................................................................7 Bench Order ? Custody to DCS ............................................................................................................9 Adjudicatory/Dispositional Order .......................................................................................................12 Permanency Hearing Order.................................................................................................................15 Permanency Hearing Order ? Adoption Status Hearing .....................................................................20 Direct Referral For Judicial Review By Foster Care Review Board...................................................21 ICPC Priority Placement Order...........................................................................................................22 Notice of Appeal to Circuit Court for De Novo Hearing Pursuant to T.C.A. ' 37-1-159 ..................24 Order for Publication ..........................................................................................................................25

Miscellaneous Order Establishing Trust for the Benefit of The Minor Child.............................................................26 Order To Encroach ..............................................................................................................................27 Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child .....................................................................................28 Revocation of Power of Attorney for Care of a Minor Child..............................................................31

PART V: APPENDICES

Checklists for Dependency Proceedings (Adopted from the Resource Guidelines) Emergency Removal Hearing .................................................................................................................1 Ratification of the Permanency Plan.......................................................................................................2 Adjudicatory Hearing .............................................................................................................................3 Dispositional Hearing .............................................................................................................................4 Periodic Review Hearing ........................................................................................................................5 Permanency Hearing...............................................................................................................................6 Termination of Parental Rights Hearing .................................................................................................7

Glossary of Selected Terms ........................................................................................................................8 Reasonable Efforts Checklist ..................................................................................................................15 Table of Required Hearings in Child Dependency Cases ......................................................................16 Timeline of Major Federal Child Abuse/Neglect Policy Enactments ...................................................17

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