What You Need To Know About Juvenile Dependency

By Essie Osborn


Sometimes a child may be abused or neglected by a parent or guardian. When this is taken to a court of law, it is treated as a juvenile dependency case. It therefore involves various actions with the aim to protect children as well as reunite families when need be. They are normally undertaken by the courts of law, which must intervene in every proceeding. It is the duty of the court to determine whether the claims of neglect or abuse of the child are valid.

It is also the duty of the court to decide if the victim should be made a dependent of the court or just urged to remain with the family. However, it is the child to come up with the final decision on the matter. If he/she declines the chance to be reunited with the family or guardian, then the court considers that. In that case, a new residence is set up for him to be relocated.

The court works in conjunction with various community partners to take care of the parents whose children are made dependent to the court. For instance, it offers treatment programs to parents with drug-related problems. Similarly, a dependency drug department can also be designed to handle parents with serious problems

Organizations such as County Counsels, Dependency Legal Groups, Health and Human Service Agencies, and Alcohol and Drug Service departments are among those partners that work together with the court. There are other volunteers as well who assist the court in taking care of the dependent children. The dependency court normally operates in a certain special way. For example, a dependency case is usually expected to appear at the court once they have taken away the child from the family.

The above step is then followed by sending of notifications to the relevant parties about the schedule the hearing. Usually, a social worker is assigned the duty to ensure that all parties are informed about the hearing date. The latter, however, can only be determined by the severity of the case. Generally, the court is responsible for preserving the rights of the parties involved as well as assigning attorneys to represent them.

The court is also required to act as the monitor of the government in order to ensure that things are in order. It also appoints attorneys to represent those involved in the case. Dependency hearing requires the court to consider a number of factors. For instance, it has to check the magnitude of the case, reports from the police officers or social workers, and the age of the child.

The court may also have to look into the background of the family, arguments of the attorney, as well as medical and psychiatric records. Additionally, the court also needs to appoint an attorney for each parent or victim in every case. There are a group of people who can be allowed to testify in dependency hearing. They include; police officers, social workers, teachers, doctors, witnesses, or even the child.

In most cases the hearing program is initiated by a petition from the Social Service Agency. This is then used for the identification of all parties involved and those required for the hearing as well the actual allegations against the victim. After that, the clerk of the court files the petition and schedules the hearing of the case.




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