Aspirational Guidelines for Juvenile Court for Deprivation Files

Letter from the Chief Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Development Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

The Need for Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Mission Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Overarching Principles/Suggestions . . . . . . . . . .8

File Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Steps in Courts File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Shelter Care Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Probable Cause Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Post Probable Cause Hearing Documentation . . . . . .10Scheduling Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11The Caseplan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Adjudicatory Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Dispositional Hearing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Continuances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Motions to Extend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Petition to Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Non Reunification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Permanency Hearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Termination of Parental Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Post TPR Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Case Closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Miscellaneous/Problem Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Other Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Court Clerk Wish List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

November 2005Sponsored by the Supreme Court of Georgias Child Placement Project

Aspirational Guidelines forGeorgias Juvenile Court Clerks

for Deprivation Case Files

1

Letter from theChief Justice

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To all Juvenile Court Clerks:

The Juvenile Court Clerks in Georgia who serve our child depriva-tion cases have tremendous responsibility in child abuse and neglectcases. The case files you keep are crucial to the decisions made by trialand appellate courts and I am well aware of the impact your competenceand skill can have on a child's life. It benefits the state to have clear pro-cedures to aid file preparation and to organize record-keeping for chil-dren's cases. In consultation with the Child Placement Project and theCourt Improvement Initiative, a select group of juvenile court clerkshave developed and published "Aspirational Guidelines for Georgia'sJuvenile Court Clerks for Child Deprivation Cases."

The authors of this document are to be commended for their effortsto improve the process for our child abuse and neglect cases. It is impor-tant that their efforts are honored by striving to meet these guidelines.I personally want to extend my deepest appreciation for the part youplay in protecting Georgia's children, and I extend an offer of support toimprove the work you do.

Sincerely,

Leah SearsChief Justice

Clerks of Court Development Team

Barbara Bledsoe-DeKalb County Pam Mitchell-Walton CountyCareatha Daniels-Fulton County Angela Norris-Paulding CountySean V. Kean-Whitfield County Lillian Sellers-Rockdale CountyCarla Kirklighter-Chatham County Donna Wentz-Douglas CountySandra McGowan-Houston County

This workshop was facilitated by Michelle Barclay and Lori Bramlett of theSupreme Court of Georgias Child Placement Project. Writer Sarah Neeley,Attorneys Beth Locker, Mary Hermann, and Michelle Barclay worked togetherto write this document on behalf of the clerks. Lori Bramlett prepared theappendix.

Deprivation Guidelines for Juvenile Court Clerks

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IntroductionNine Juvenile Court Clerks were

brought together for a one day work-shop on March 11, 2005, to developguidelines for creating files for childdeprivation cases. The workshop andthe resulting written product werefunded by the Supreme Court ofGeorgia's Child Placement Project(CPP). The format of this document isdesigned to be short and concise, yetprovide enough details to help a juve-nile court clerk create a thoroughdeprivation case file. While all depri-vation cases will contain some of thesame elements, these guidelines wereprimarily developed for cases wherethe Division of Family and ChildrenServices (DFCS) has taken a child intocustody.

The Need for GuidelinesChildren in deprivation cases

come before juvenile courts for pro-tection from further harm and fortimely decision-making for theirfuture. Juvenile courts are the gate-keepers of our state's foster care sys-tem. The issues coming before thecourts are complex, requiring manyhearings and many people. To per-form their extensive oversight role,courts need complete information. Itis essential that the case file itself bewell organized, easy to read and con-tain all the relevant information nec-essary for a judge's decision. An

appealed case depends on a "clean"record which means that everythingwas done correctly but also that itwas thoroughly documented.

The CPP performs annual sum-mer reviews of juvenile courts acrossthe state and has found tremendousvariability from county to county interms of case file organization andmaintenance. The result is often con-fusing, disorganized files that are alltoo frequently lacking key elements.To that end, the CPP solicited theGeorgia Association of Juvenile CourtClerks for assistance in developingguidelines for these particular casefiles to enhance accuracy and unifor-mity. A number of juvenile courtclerks from across the state volun-teered to help achieve this importantgoal.

When information on diversepractices is shared, the best of eachcan be incorporated into practice inall jurisdictions. Consistency andexcellence in file maintenance fordeprivation cases is likely to lead tomore consistent results at both thetrial and appellate levels, helping toensure that families involved withjuvenile courts across the state willbe treated similarly and can hold thesame expectations about juvenilecourt. Meeting these expectations iseven more critical today since thenumber of children in foster care isgrowing again. On the day of ourworkshop, over 15,000 children werein foster care.


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Mission StatementTo set uniform standards for

content and organization of depri-vation case files that are opened inresponse to an allegation by DFCSof child abuse or neglect, from theinitial complaint through case clo-sure.

As of 2004, current court fileslook very different, each bearingthe mark of its county of origin. Astandardized court filing recordwould aid in each step taken onbehalf of a child through the childwelfare system, particularly througha review or appeals process.

OverarchingPrinciples/SuggestionsThe organization of court files pres-ents a major problem area. Clerksmade the following suggestions:

Pay attention to the judge'sneeds.

Files should be arranged chrono-logically, from the initial com-plaint to the most current.

Use out-cards for pulled files.

File delinquent and deprivationfiles together; Use color-coded tabs to distinguish between delinquentand deprivation cases.

Flag all court orders.

Some courts use both sides ofthe folder to separate legal vs.social information or vital fromnon-vital information.

Some courts have the advantageof ICON, a digital system thatprints an appeals index and cor-responding documents.

A standard cross-referencingsystem is needed.

In counties with more than onejuvenile court judge, cases couldbe color-coded to indicate theprimary judge.

Files should be arranged alpha-betically and to keep siblingscollected in one file if at all pos-sible, if not, some sort of cross-referencing to make sure thatsiblings are linked together forcitizen panel review hearings,reviews, etc.

There needs to be a uniformrule about incarcerated parentsregarding presence at hearings.

File ContentsThis document represents con-

sensus of the participating juvenilecourt clerks as to appropriate con-tent and organization of court filesfor each step of a child's casethrough the court system.Appendices follow the summationand contain the current Guidelinesfor Maintaining a Juvenile CourtDocket for the Council of JuvenileCourt Judges of Georgia, lastrevised in April 2001, (see AppendixA) as well as sample documents cur-rently in use in specific counties.The latter were deemed exemplarysamples of documents worthy ofinclusion in any standard courtcase file. The report concludes witha Wish List compiled by the Clerksof Court to make each child's caseproceed more smoothly throughthe juvenile court system.


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STEPS IN COURT'S FILE

NOTE: We have attempted to addressthe steps in a court's file in the mostcommon chronological order. For someelements this was easy such as Step #1is the Complaint because every casewill begin with a complaint and like-wise Step #17 is Case Closure sinceevery case must have a closingmemo/form/order. In between, thingsare more complicated. Cases will end atdifferent stages along the process andthus many cases will not contain all ofthe elements while others will containmultiple versions of the same element(such as Reviews). It is assumed that ifone of the steps occurs in a case, thenthe Clerk will assure the necessary doc-uments/elements listed below that stepwill be included in the file and willremain there. When the case is closedby the court, the Clerk will skip to Step#17 and officially close the file.

#1 COMPLAINTThe complaint is the first documentfiled with the court to initiate a dep-rivation case. The complaint willgenerally be filed by DFCS, althoughcomplaints may be filed by any per-son against a child's primary care-taker.

To start a deprivation case, the min-imum that must be recorded in thecase file: An initial complaint alleging

deprivation, must be filed prior toall orders. The complaint mustcome before the shelter care orderin the file. A list of approvedcomplaints can be found in theuniform rules. See Appendix A.

An intake memo, usually a DFCSform 453 (the child abuse/neglectintake referral form-see AppendixB1), should give more informationthan the standard complaint. Itusually will contain the followinginformation:v where biological parents areliving,

v a detailed description of the alleged reasons for deprivationandv a list of all fathers, legal orputative,v the child's social security number and date of birth.

A Contact Sheet attached directlyinside the court case file covercontaining all names, addresses,phone and fax numbers andemail addresses of all attorneys,CASAs or other Lay GALs. SeeAppendix C.

A tracking sheet should be started:v An example of a Tracking Sheetfor Deprivation Cases from Rockdale County is found in theAppendix. See Appendix D.

If there is a police report or reportfrom a school social worker, itshould be attached in the file.These reports should also indicateif there were any photos taken.

#2 SHELTER CARE ORDER2

This document represents the initialapproval given by the judicialbranch to the executive branch toremove a child from his or her pri-mary caregivers. It is often done bya phone call but then a formal ordermust be created to document thiscrucial part of the case process. Thisorder can also be called an ex parteorder.

The court file should now contain: The shelter care order signed and

dated by a judge.v The Shelter Care Order isdistinct from the Probable CauseOrder/72 Hour Order and shouldbe included as a separate docu-ment in the court file.v The Shelter Care Order should include:

F the date and time of the child's removal from his/her biological parents/legal guardian.


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1Not all DFCS offices turn over this form, however it is aviewable document for courts and can be requested.

2See the Council of Juvenile Court Judges model court orders fora sample of all court orders: http://www.georgiacourts.org/councils/cjcj/deprivation_forms.htm

F the date and time of the scheduled Probable Cause/72 Hour hearing.

NOTE: Some courts refer to the ShelterCare Order as a Detention Order.This is a carry-over from the delinquen-cy side of juvenile court where the judgeis considering confinement of the juve-nile. However, in deprivation cases thechild is not being detained or impris-oned and neither are the parents.Rather, the court is considering if it isnecessary to remove the child from theparent's custody in order to shelter thechild from abuse or neglect. Thus theterm Shelter Care Order is the appropri-ate term and courts using the termDetention Order are encouraged tomake the appropriate changes.

#3 PROBABLE CAUSE HEARING The probable cause hearing

must be held within 72 hours of achild's removal from the home. Thishearing is similar in some ways to aprobable cause/detention hearing indelinquency cases and as explainedabove the terminology of deten-tion hearing has often been carriedover to the deprivation side of juve-nile court. Again, however, thishearing is not a detention hearingwhich implies a criminal or quasi-criminal action, thus in deprivationmatters this hearing, held within 72hours of removal from the parents,should be referred to as the probablecause hearing. This hearing isrequired to have the executivebranch show cause to the judicialbranch regarding why this familyrequired government intervention.It is crucial that a court order docu-menting the results of this hearingbe included in the case file.

The court file should now contain: The probable cause hearing order

(72 hour order) which should include:v Findings regarding whether

DFCS has made reasonable efforts to:

1) preserve and reunify the family prior to the placement of the child in foster care,

2) prevent or eliminate the need for the removal of the child from his/her home and,

3) make it possible forthe child to return safely home.

v If Reasonable Efforts weremade, then the order mustcontain fact-specific examples of the reasonable efforts that were used in that particular case.

v If Reasonable Efforts were notmade, the Probable Cause Order (72 Hour Order) must include an explanation of why reasonable efforts were not necessary. These reasons are strictly limited to a few situations that are listed in OCGA 15-11-58(a)(4)(A-C).

v If the court decides the child is to remain in state custody, the Probable Cause Order (72 Hour Order) must also document:F that remaining in the home

would be contrary to the welfare of the child.

NOTE: These specific findings and ter-minology of reasonable efforts andcontrary to the welfare of the childare required by federal law, as a condi-tion for receipt of federal foster caremoney. Assuring that these specificfindings have been documented in thecase file, helps the State provide moreresources for these families. These find-ings are also important in general tosatisfy the due process rights of parentsand children.

The definition of reasonableefforts currently varies from county tocounty. The bar needs to be set high forthis standard, as removing childrenfrom biological parents is a severe gov-ernment action. Clear delineation anddocumentation of the above require-


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ments provides the State's evidence offindings to support a child's classifica-tion and funding stream within the sys-tem. Proper documentation within achild's first order assures the possibilityof federal IV-E funding which providesmore money for the child's needs. If thiscourt order does not properly makethese findings, the child will have a dif-ferent classification which can never beremedied as long as the child is in statecustody and can even prevent the childfrom receiving adoption assistance.

Because of the importance of thesefindings: If the Probable Cause Order (72

Hour Order) is a check off sheet,great care must be taken to makesure all the appropriate boxes arechecked. Carelessness in missing acheck box can have a big effect ona child's case.

Additionally, if a check off sheet isbeing used for the Order, it mustinclude lines for the judge to enterthe specific factual basis.

#4 POST-PROBABLE CAUSE HEARINGDOCUMENTATION

If probable cause has been found(i.e. the case wasn't closed at theProbable Cause hearing), then thecourt file should now contain:

Noticev In most counties the individual

caseworker is responsible for notifying all parties of the Probable Cause Hearing. This is called informal notice and is allowed for the probable cause hearing only. It is important to document all notice attempts (both formal and informal) to be able to show that the due process rights of the parents were covered by the court. If notice is given verballyat any hearing by the judge, court staff or one of the parties for the next hearing(s), find a way to record that information.

It will benefit a child's case if it goes up on appeal.

v Formal notice is a record of thesummons and a copy of the petition which is required for all hearings after the Probable Cause Hearing.

v Notice documentation, of bothfailed and successful attempts, needs to be in the court file as soon as it is available, including (and especially) notice to all father(s) - including putative fathers.

F Ideally, this action should be documented on a tracking sheet which includes a certificate of service.

F All changes in the contact information for parents should be documented on the tracking sheet forfuture service.

Any pretrial motions filed withthe court and the correspondingcourt orders addressing thosemotions.

Appointment of Attorneys forParents: Documentation ofappointment and contact infor-mation for the appointee(s) isneeded as soon as it is done.Many courts have a standardorder for such appointments.v Ideally, as soon as a child is

removed from the home, counsel should be appointed for the parents or parents should be advised to hire their own attorney. Sometimes, a family has to qualify for a court-appointed attorney, and this takes time. In at least one county, an attorney can be appointed, and a parent can pay the county back later if it is determined that they do not meet the requirements for a court-appointed attorney.

v It was agreed that a moreuniform way of appointment would be best.


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Appointment of Child AdvocateAttorney and/or Lay Guardian AdLitem/CASA (GAL) for the Child:Documentation of these appoint-ment(s), and contact informationfor the appointee(s) is needed.Some courts appoint either a childadvocate attorney or a GAL beforeor at the Probable Cause hearing.A few courts in the state appointboth a child advocate attorneyand a GAL v There are differences in the

two roles. The attorney works for the child, while the GAL works for the court. The Child Advocate Attorney can perform all of the standard attorney tasks such as calling witnesses, subpoenaing documents and making opening or closing statements. Likewise, the attorneyis bound by confidentiality andall other rules of professional conduct. The GAL is usually not an attorney and thus serves a different function underdifferent rules. The GAL acts asan agent of the court, followinghis/her own judgment and reporting to the court what he/she believes would be in the child's best interest. Thus, it is important to document which role was appointed or if both were appointed

v The clerks agreed that appointment orders should be in the file, with the most recent on top. A sample of appointment orders is includedin the appendices. See AppendixE, F and G for samples.

#5 SCHEDULING ORDER The Court Improvement Initiativerecommends using schedulingorders and a number of courtalready do so. If it applies in thejurisdiction, it is to be done at theprobable cause hearing or adjudica-tion, depending on the Judge's dis-cretion. Any courts that use suchorders should include them in theircasefiles.

The court file should now contain: The scheduling order.

See Appendix H.

#6 THE CASE PLANThe case plan is the roadmap for

the child's case and the due processdocumentation for the parent(s) toget their child placed back in theirhome. It is a document created byDFCS with input from the partiesand submitted to the court forapproval. Cases have been over-turned on appeal because of poorlydocumented case plans.

Once the case plan is approvedby the court, the document shouldreside in both the court case file andthe DFCS file. The case plan needsto be prepared and submitted to theCourt within 30 days of the child'sremoval and it should be developedwith the participation of the parentsand children, when appropriate.

The case plan will be reviewedevery three to six months, either bythe Judge or by a Citizen PanelReview, likely resulting in new docu-mentation of progress toward stepsand goals. Each court approved revi-sion of the case plan should beincluded in the case file.

Optimally, the parents shouldget a copy of the case plan at thecourt hearing (adjudication, disposi-tion, or combined hearing) whenthe plan was approved, but it can bemailed as well by the case managerto the parents.


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#7 ADJUDICATORY HEARINGThe Adjudicatory Hearing is the

trial of the facts of the case. Theadjudicatory hearing is sometimescalled the Formal or 10-day hearing.Because of the crucial importance ofthis hearing, this is an appropriatetime to confirm/recheck that thecourt case file includes: The initial petition. A court order (likely the Probable

Cause Order/72 Hour Order) or anaffidavit setting forth the reason-able efforts made to keep the childin the home.

Documentation of summons to allparties involved in the case (alllegally sufficient service)

DFCS Form 453. The child's Social Security number

and date of birth (These two itemscan possibly affect legitimation).This information should beincluded in form 453, but if it isnot, it should be sought for thechild's record.

Documentation of the appoint-ment of counsel for both childand parents.

The scheduling order setting outall dates of court cases, and thecase plan review hearings set for30 days hence. Inclusion of thescheduling order verifies strongdue process and reduces continu-ances.

An adjudication order (within 30days after the hearing), that spellsout the findings of fact and con-clusions of law, a reasonableefforts finding and a findingregarding the best interest of thechild. v The aspirational guidelines

would require the adjudication order be in the file within 7 to 14 days after the hearing.

#8 DISPOSITIONAL HEARINGThe dispositional hearing may

be held immediately following theadjudicatory hearing or on a laterdate.

At this time, the court fileshould contain: A list of all who were put on

notice to appear, those who actu-ally appeared, and those whowere not present should beincluded in the file at this andevery other court hearing. v Everyone who should be present

at the adjudicatory hearing also should be present at thedispositional hearing; for example,the child, mother, all fathers, their attorneys, the DFCS casemanagers, SAAG and any GALs.

v If the whereabouts of either parent is in question, the clerk should publish on that parent based on their last knownresidence.

A completed case plan should bein the file within 30 days ofremoval. At the dispositionalhearing (or soon afterward), thatcase plan should be eitherapproved or disapproved by theCourt. The court should incorpo-rate the case plan into the courtfile by court order. Both this orderand the caseplan should then beincluded in the file.v NOTE: See section immediately

below for additional informationregarding the case plan.

Documentation of the diligentsearch for relatives required byOCGA 15-11-55 (a)(2)(D).

Documentation the parents werenotified of their right to request ajudicial hearing on the case planwithin five days of their receipt ofthat case plan.

A dispositional order (within 30days after the hearing).v The dispositional order should

indicate where the child has been placed;


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F At the very least, such an order must indicate that the child is to be placed with DFCS for future placement.

F Ideally, the court file should include documen-tation about where thechild is actually living (i.e. a specific address).

v Best practices call for the dispositional order to be in the file within 7 days of the hearing

v As best practice, recommenda-tions from the CCFA (Compre-hensive Child and Family Assessment) should be includedin the court file or court record.The judge should know what the assessment recommendedas treatment and placement for the child.

#9 CONTINUANCESIf a case is to be continued, the

court file should contain: A documented motion for contin-uance (Rule 11.3 of the UniformRules for the Juvenile Courts ofGeorgia), stating the reason why thecase is continued. An order for, or denial of, contin-uance, as granted by the court. SeeAppendix I.

#10 REVIEWSReviews of a child's case (either

by the judge or by citizen panelreview) must be done every sixmonths and in many courts aredone every three months. The startdate of the reviews begins countingfrom the date of the child's removalfrom the home.

After reviews, the case file shouldcontain: A review order including:

v Findings involving the Best Interest of the Child or actions being Contrary to the Welfare

of the Child that are clearly present,F Some counties put this

language in bold type in their orders,

v Facts stating the date and time of the judicial review and who was summoned or requested(ie foster parent) to attend and whether they were in attendance.

Panel recommendations (if appro-priate).

Documentation of notice to allparties in the case,v Including to foster parents in

accordance with OCGA 15-11-58(p). See Appendix J.

v Attorneys should also be given notice but their presence can be waived for Panel Reviews.

Documentation verifying thateveryone concerned (non-parties)has been invited to the review andthe reason the review was neces-sary.

Documentation of who actuallyappeared (likely in the ReviewOrder).

A supplemental order giving par-ties the right for appeal withinfive days must also be included inthe file. Each of these documentsserves to record the continuationof all reasonable efforts.

A pivotal point in a review is theindication of any new goals thatwere established as a result of thereview. If new goals are establishedin the judicial review, a new evi-dence-finding hearing will be calledwith an appearance before the judgewhich would result in a newmotion, a new hearing and poten-tially a new order. It is still appro-priate to confirm the overall goal,whether reunification, non-reunifi-cation or concurrent.


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#11 MOTIONS TO EXTEND (OCGA 15-11-58(n))

Any motion to extend hearingshould be held prior to expiration ofthe original court order (usually 12months from the date of the initialorder). At the time of this hearing,the court file should contain: An Order of Extension, Documentation of all who were

noticed to appear, those who actu-ally appeared and those who werenot present,v NOTE: If the whereabouts of

either parent is in question, the clerk should publish on both parents in their last knownresidence area,

A current case plan, Language documented in the file

(likely in the Order of Extension)that the purposes of the originalorder either have or have not beenaccomplished.

#12 PETITIONS TO MODIFYA petition to modify results in a

hearing to modify, change or vacatea prior order where a change in cir-cumstance now requires a modifica-tion to further the best interests ofthe child. At this hearing, the courtcase file should include: The petition, Documentation of legally suffi-

cient service to all parties, Documentation of notice to foster

parents in accordance with OCGA 15-11-58(p), giving themthe right to notice and an oppor-tunity to be heard,

If the petition asks for custody togo to anyone other than the par-ent from whom the child wasremoved, the court file shouldhave a copy of a home evaluationof the proposed new care-giver.

#13 NON-REUNIFICATION (OCGA 15-11-58h)

Non-reunification hearings arehearings where the DFCS petitionsthe court to ask that the Division berelieved of providing reasonableefforts services to reunite the childwith his/her family because suchservices would be detrimental to thechild and to determine whetherefforts at reunification should cease.Certain statutory grounds must befound by the court to allow thispath. This hearing requires thesame or very similar documentationas the adjudicatory and disposition-al hearing. The casefile should nowinclude: The petition for non-reunifica-

tion, Documentation of summons to

all parties involved in the caseand/or legally sufficient service onthe parties. Also, make sure thatattorneys appointed for thechild/ren and/or parents are onrecord for non-reunification, sincethe move for non-reunification isthe signal that the child's case islikely moving toward another per-manency plan and all rights needto be covered,

Documentation of notice to fosterparents in accordance withOCGA 15-11-58(p), giving themthe right to notice and an oppor-tunity to be heard,

A non-reunification order (within30 days after the hearing), thatspells out the findings of fact andconclusions of law, a reasonableefforts finding and a findingregarding the best interest of thechild, v The aspirational guidelines

would require the non-reunifi-cation order be in the filewithin 7 to 14 days after the hearing.

An order granting custody untilthe child turns 18 (if applicable).v Includes three year review order

that appoints a reviewing agent.


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#14 PERMANENCY HEARINGAn order to cover the findings of

a permanency hearing is required inthe case file within one year of thechild's removal. A motion toextend custody and a subsequentorder may also be in the file andthese two issues are often addressedat the same time, right before ayear's end of a child's stay in fostercare. However, while permanencyand a motion to extend custodymay be addressed in a single hear-ing, they are separate court actionsand should be documented as such,in compliance with SB 236, definedin GA Code section, 15-11-58. SeeAppendix K for GA Code. An extension of custody to the

DFCS can be granted for up to oneadditional year, thus giving par-ents up to a total of two years torectify the situation that broughtthe child into care. After these twoyears are up, no additional exten-sions may be granted. If the DFCSdesires to keep a child in care, thechild's case must be filed againand a new adjudication hearingmust be held to prove the child isstill deprived.

SB 236 gives caregivers (primarilyfoster parents) the right to noticeand opportunity to be heard,requires a diligent search for rela-tives within the first 90 days of achildren's removal from the homeand expands the class of personsor agencies to be considered forpermanent custody. A guide forbest practices to implement SB 236is available on www.childplacementproject.org/

#15 TERMINATION OF PARENTALRIGHTS (TPR)

TPR by its very nature, must bedocumented precisely. This is themost serious action the court cantake regarding a deprived child sinceit severs all ties between the childand their natural family.

The court file should contain: The TPR Petition

v NOTE: TPR hearings must be calendared within 90 days offiling

All service and summons, as wellas any updated appointments.v Including appointment of

legal counsel for child if not already done.

An affidavit stating that all effortshave been made to locate the par-ents and for any parents not per-sonally served, proof of a searchby publication must be presentand signed by a judge.

The judge can and should takejudicial notice of all proof of serv-ice and all previous court orders.That way this information is con-tained in the file and in the courtrecord just to be extra careful.

The order for TPR must be writtenand filed within 30 days of thehearing. v Concerned parties have the

right to appeal within 30 days of the judge's TPR order.

#16 POST-TPR REVIEWPost-TPR reviews of adoption

status or other efforts to ensure per-manency occur at least every sixmonths. It is recommended that thepost-TPR review date must bestamped and in the court file within72 hours of the judge's signing theorder to assist moving these chil-dren's cases to permanency. A sum-mary of efforts made to achieve per-manency for a child should be doc-umented in the case file and thechild's placement must continue to


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be in his/her best interest. Thesechildren are legal orphans untilpermanency is achieved.

#17 CASE CLOSUREFor case closure, there must be

documented notice of all hearingsand appeals. If a child is adopted,then an order reflecting closure issigned at the adoption hearing bythe judge. In most other cases, aSAAG gives the clerk a case closureform. Sample forms appears inAppendix L and M.

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Miscellaneous/Problem Areas

A standard for recording or tran-scribing deprivation cases is needed,especially for termination ofparental rights hearings. Delays ingetting transcripts greatly affects thetiming on appeals, which in turndelays permanency for children. Inaddition, clerks of court expressedconcern over:

individual differences in train-ing of court reporters.

the cost of the transcripts. who pays the court reporter whose responsibility it is to get a

court reporter the delay in receiving transcripts

from the court reporter. It isnecessary that clerks receivetranscripts in a timely mannerin order for cases to be filed andthen heard quickly.

siblings entering the system atdifferent times.

One recommendation is to haveextra resources to make sure that allTPR cases that get appealed get tran-scribed within 30 days of the notice ofappeal. This cost would be well worthit, if it results in shortening a child'sstay in state custody and ensuring afinal decision for his or her future.

Other Tools

Basic Deprivation Casefile ChecklistCompiled for one to quickly seewhat should be in a child's depriva-tion case. See Appendix N.

Case File Review InstrumentsCreated by the staff of the ChildPlacement Project and CourtImprovement Initiative to do quali-ty assurance reviews which can bedone locally as well. The staff canassist with creating a random list ofchildren per county. See Appendix O.

Bartow Court OrdersThis county is the only one able togive out court orders at the end ofmost hearings (one of the CourtImprovement Initiative's goals)some of which is due to the designof their court orders. See Appendix P(on the CD only!).

ListServ for Juvenile Court Clerks

The lack of communication between clerksneeds to be improved. We need a common

web site and/or an email listserv.

Accomplishments: The AOC has created a listserv for juvenile court clerks.

ListServ for Juvenile and Superior Court Clerksserving as juvenile court clerks.

To build better relationship between Superior Court clerks and Juvenile

Court clerks

To see if the child and/or family has actions in both courts

A picture of every child in the court file.The same person should take the picture

and submit it to court.

Uniform application for all court-appointed attorneys.

Standard case tracking sheet.

Financial aid for initial file standardization.

Publication of a Clerk's Manual, with funding for printing a new manual and updating it on

a scheduled basis.

Accomplishments: We hope this manual can be a starting point for an annual updated manual.

We encourage clerks to contact us and share any recommended changes or updates.

Money from the legislature for educational speakers and seminars.

Case-counting consensus.

Designation of the number of cases each clerk can efficiently and accurately handle.

Modernize the clerks' jobs by filing and communicating electronically.

Clerks' retirement fund, funded by the State.

Juvenile clerk for every juvenile court judge in a county.

Anytime there is judicial notice of prior court orders, they must be marked as exhibits and submitted into evidence.

If not done, this can lead to major problems on appeals.

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Court Clerk Wish List

Aspirational Guidelines for Juvenile Court for Deprivation Files

Documents

Transcript of Aspirational Guidelines for Juvenile Court for Deprivation Files