Once the Court has issued orders of disposition, both Federal and State Law require that the Court monitor each child in an out of home placement on a regular basis and hold formal reviews not less than six months apart⁽¹⁾. In Pima County, the Juvenile Court holds periodic dependency reviews ⁽²⁾every three months in most cases. There are two kinds of dependency reviews: Cases in the first year which have not gone to permanency planning and cases beyond the first year for which a permanent plan is in place.

A. Cases prior to permanency planning:
Prior to permanency, the Court has three main goals in a dependency review:

1. Monitor the child's well being.
2. Monitor the progress of the case plan
3. Make adjustments to the case plan if appropriate.

For our clients, the dependency review is a critical event. In the very short one-year journey to permanency planning, the dependency reviews are the cusp points. The first review is usually a watershed event -- three to five months into the one year period. The first review will let us know whether or not the family is on the way to reunification. The second review is usually the last call before permanency decisions must made.

Because of their importance, we need to stay fully informed. In a sense we must reinvestigate the case as if it were new. If there is a CPS staffing or a Foster Care Review Board Hearing scheduled before the review, we should make sure that we attend and participate. We should talk with the case manager. And, above all, we should meet several times with our client.

Prior to the court hearing, the CPS case manager will issue a progress report to the Court addressing all three issues. We will receive a copy of the report. In the report, the case manager will describe the original problems, the efforts made to resolve them, and the progress towards resolution The case manager will also report on the condition of the child and submit an updated case plan for the Court's review.

We should independently investigate the case; carefully review the report and carefully review the case plan. If our client has been in therapy, we should check in with the therapist to evaluate the situation.

We should also reassess our client to make sure that we understand our client's wishes and to make sure that his or her needs are being met. By the time of the dependency review, our client will have been out of the home for a number of months. Our client may have been in therapy for the same amount of time. There may be subtle or substantial changes in the client's mental or emotional state of which we should be aware.

After consulting with our client, we should be ready to offer appropriate corrections or adjustments to the case plan. Part of our consultation with our older clients should be to update our client on the parent's progress or lack of progress. That conversation may be difficult if the parents are not progressing.

Just as CPS will submit a report, we should do the same if we have a different slant on events or if we want to request a change in the case plan or a change in services. If we have any issues, we should submit our own written report under the title "Report of the Child's Attorney." We need to make sure that the Court gets a copy of our report at least five days in advance. A written report will be much more effective if the Judge has time to read and absorb it.

A sample "Report of the Child's Attorney" is included in the Appendix.

The following is a dependency review information checklist:

1. Attend case staffing.
2. Attend Foster Care Review Board Hearing
3. Contact Case Manager
4. Review Case Manager's Report
5. Contact Therapist
6. Contact Placement
7. Contact parents' attorneys
8. Contact CASA
9. Meet with client

a. bring client up to date on court issues.
b. assess client's current situation

i. listen to clients' concerns and questions
ii. assess client's adjustment to placement
iii. issues with parents
iv. mental health
v. status of therapy.
vi. school
vii. Other needs

c. make appropriate decisions

10. Prepare Court Report

1. ARS § 8-847

2. The Pima County Juvenile Court uses the term "dependency review". The Federal statutes use the term "Report and Review" or just "review"