Juvenile Court Foster Care Eligibility Toolkit: Status Review Hearing

1. After a child is declared a dependent or ward of the Juvenile Court and the court orders family maintenance or reunification services to either parent or the legal guardians, the court must set a subsequent hearing to review the status and safety of the child and the progress of the parents or guardians.
2. In a family maintenance dependency proceeding, the court must terminate its jurisdiction at the Status Review Hearing, unless the Agency establishes that conditions still exist which would justify initial assumption of jurisdiction under WIC 300 or that those conditions are likely to exist if supervision is withdrawn (WIC 364).
3. In all cases where the child has been removed from the parent’s care and custody and family reunification services have been ordered, the court must review the child’s status at a review hearing.
4. At the review hearing, the court must order return of the child to the parent unless the court finds that return of the child to the parent would create a substantial risk of detriment to the safety, protection or physical or emotional well-being of the child.
    

Timelines

Generally, Status Review Hearings must be held at intervals of no more than six months and will be calculated using the dates of initial removal or the date the child entered foster care.

Six-Month Review

In a dependency proceeding, the first review hearing is set six months from the Dispositional Hearing but cannot be later than 12 months for the date the child entered foster care. In a delinquency proceeding, the first review is set within 6 months of the date the child entered foster care. Hearings are generally held every six months thereafter.

Notice

All parties must be served between 15 and 30 days before the hearing.

Report

At least 10 calendar days prior to the Status Review Hearing, the Agency must file a report with the court. 

For purposes of foster care eligibility, the report should detail the services provided to the family so that the court can make the requisite findings that “the county has made reasonable efforts to achieve legal permanence for the child.”
 

At the Status Review Hearing, the court must assess:

1. The necessity and appropriateness of the child’s placement;
2. And the extent of compliance, by all parties, with the case plan;
3. The extent of progress the parents have made on the case plan;
4. The likely date by which return home or permanence might be achieved;
5. For youth ages 14 or older, whether the services in the case plan include those needed to assist the youth in making the transition from foster care to successful adulthood.

The court must then make the following findings and orders:

• The factual basis for a determination that the child should or should not be returned to the parent’s care and custody;
• If the child is not returned, identify additional services reasonably believed to facilitate the return of the child to the custody of the parent;
• Determine whether the Agency provided reasonable services to the parent and child to aid in the safe return of the child to the parent’s custody.

The court must continue to hold periodic Status Review Hearings:

• Six (6) months after disposition or the date the child entered foster care;
• 12 months after the date the child entered foster care;
• 18 months after the child was initially removed from the parent, and;
• In some cases, 24 months after the child was initially removed.

In all these hearings, the court must determine whether the child must be returned to the parent or whether reunification should continue.

At each Status Review Hearing, the court must consider the following outcomes and make the appropriate findings. For foster care funding purposes, the court must make the following findings:

1. The county has complied with the case plan by making reasonable efforts to return the child to a safe home and to complete any steps necessary to finalize the permanent placement of a child.”
2. The child’s placement is necessary and appropriate.
3. The extent of progress the parent has made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes leading to
   placement.
4. The likely date that the child can be returned to and safely maintained in the home, or another permanent plan is selected.
5. For children 14 years old and older, whether the services set forth in the case plan include those needed to assist the child in making the transition from foster care to successful adulthood.

*For Status Review Hearings held at the 12-month and 18-month date, the court must also determine that the permanent plan identified for the child is appropriate and order that plan for the child.

Download and review samples.

Sample Status Review Hearing Order