There are a number of important players in the child protective system. You, as the child's attorney, are one of the most important. The others include the Judge, the case manager, the Attorney General, the parents' attorneys, the psychological evaluators, the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), the Guardians Ad Litem, the Court clerks, the Court Reporters, the court mediator, and a host of others. The following is a list of some of the participants and their roles. As you read through the handbook, feel free to come back and review this collection of people.

The Judge
Pretty much everything in the Child Protective System revolves around the Juvenile Court Judge. State law delegates to the Judge the ultimate responsibility for decisions concerning the lives of children who are before the court. There are no juries in the Juvenile Court, so the Judge is the final word on both the law and facts in every case.

There are two kinds of judges in the Juvenile Court. There are Superior Court Judges who are appointed by the Governor for fixed ten year terms. There are also Commissioners who are appointed by the Chief Superior Court Judge of Pima County. Commissioners serve at the will of the Chief Judge. In Juvenile Court, both types of Judges have the same responsibilities and powers and are due the same respect.

The Judges are assigned to the Juvenile Court by the Chief Judge--usually on a three- to five- year rotation. The Chief Judge controls the rotation and also appoints a presiding Judge who is in charge of the administrative operations of the Juvenile Court.

The Judges in the Juvenile Court work extremely hard. As you will quickly learn, their days are made up of non-stop hearings, with very little down time during the day to prepare for the cases that they will hear. As a result, Judges rely heavily on the participants to bring them up to speed--especially on written reports from CPS workers. For that reason, we encourage you, as the child's attorney, to submit written reports to ensure that the Judge is as fully informed as possible of the child's interests.

All of the Judges have Chambers in the Juvenile Court Building at 2225 E. Ajo Way, Tucson, AZ 85713. Tel. 740-2000.

Case Managers
The Child Protective Services workers assigned to each family are called Case Managers. There are two principal types of case managers: intake workers and on-going case managers.

As their name suggests, the intake workers are responsible for the initial response to an allegation of abuse or neglect. The intake workers are responsible for making an initial determination whether or not there is credible evidence to make an administrative finding of abuse or neglect, for decisions about whether or not to remove a child from the parents, for providing an initial report to the Juvenile Court, for notifying parents of their rights, and for developing and implementing an initial case plan.

Once the matter has been initially presented to the court, the intake worker is supplanted by the on-going case manager. The on-going worker is responsible for developing the long- term case plan, for setting up therapy or other services, for working with the parents to help them meet the case plan goals, and for communicating with the Court.

In addition, both the investigator and the on-going workers are responsible for providing disclosure to the other participants in the Juvenile Court process--that is, for making sure that the information gathered by CPS is made available to all the litigants. Disclosure might include reports of drug tests, police reports, reports of therapists, psychological evaluations, and other communications that are sent to CPS. Case Managers are grouped geographically throughout the County in various units. The addresses and phone numbers are kept in the light blue notebook in the clinic workroom.

A note of caution: CPS is represented in a dependency by the Office of the Attorney General. Since the case managers are themselves the contact persons for CPS, they are technically "parties represented by counsel in a dependency. As such, we are not allowed to communicate with them absent their attorney's permission pursuant to Rule 4.2 of the AZ Model Rules of Professional Conduct.⁽¹⁾ The good news is that we have been given permission to speak directly with the case managers for the purpose of exchanging important information.

The Attorney General
In Arizona, the Office of the Attorney General is responsible for representing the Department of Economic Security [DES] and its division of Child Protective Services [CPS]. The AG's office is responsible for preparing dependency petitions, severance motions, and other court pleadings. In addition, the AG's office advocates for CPS both in and out of court in the same manner as any other lawyer.

The local AG's office is at 3939 South Park Avenue, Suite 180, Tucson, AZ 85714. Their phone number is 294-6655.

Parent's Attorney
Each parent in a dependency proceeding is entitled to and receives separate counsel. While it is often the case that both parents initially appear to have identical legal interests, the potential for conflict of interest is always present. As a result, the courts routinely assign separate attorneys to avoid problems down the road.

Most of the parents' attorneys are assigned directly by the court. These attorneys have a contract with the Court whereby they get paid a prearranged flat fee per case. All of the parents' attorneys have to pass a minimum training and are required to maintained continuing legal education with the Court as well. Parents may be assessed a fee to offset the costs of their lawyer. There is a list of parents' attorneys and their addresses and phone numbers in the light blue notebook in the student work area.

The primary role of the parents' attorneys is to advocate for their clients in court. A good parent's attorney, however, will perform many non-litigation functions to assist the parent in navigating the case- plan process. Thus, a good parent's attorney will help the parent understand the child protection process and negotiate visitation; advocate for appropriate services for the parent; advise the parent on the choices that will most likely result in return of the child; and assist the parents to carry out their case-plan tasks.

There is a list of parents' attorneys and their addresses and phone numbers in the light blue notebook in the student work area.

Guardian Ad Litem
A Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) is an attorney appointed by the Court to advocate for the client's best interests (as opposed to the client's stated legal objectives). Therefore, unlike an attorney appointed to represent a party as an attorney, the GAL's functions independently of the client's wishes and reports directly to the Court regarding the client's best interest.

A GAL is appointed whenever the court determines that the client (whether adult or child) is not capable of making decisions in his or her own best interests. A GAL might be appointed where the client is too young, under a mental or psychiatric disability, or advocates a position that the client's attorney feels is dangerous to the client.

Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA)
The CASA is usually non-lawyers who provides the Court with reports concerning the best interests of a child. The CASA is a volunteer specially trained to spend time with children, to get to know them, and to gather information for the Court. CASA is an independent program administered by the Arizona Supreme Court. CASA's are given wide authority to access police files, hospital records, and even sealed court records. Unlike an attorney/GAL, CASA's cannot question or cross examine witnesses in court. They can, however, provide extensive information that would not otherwise be available to the Judge.⁽²⁾

1. ER 4.2 as found in Rule 42 AZ Rule of the Supreme Court. In the remainder of the handbook, we will cite the ethical rules as Rule __ ARPC [ Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct]

2. See ARS §8-522 for a listing of CASA authority and responsibilities