DFCS Process

The following information contains a general work flowgeneral work flow of the DFCS initiated process for determining the authority for placement of a potential dependent of the court.

Social Worker Steps

Field Investigation

A SW responds to an allegation(s) of child abuse or neglect and makes an assessment of risk to the child. If the investigation determines the parent/guardian is unable to care for and protect the child, removal from the home may be necessary. The child is subsequently removed from the custody of the parent/guardian and placed into FC.

Petition Filed

In California, the filing of a petition starts the juvenile court proceedings.The initial petition filed on behalf of a child is referred to as a 300 Petition and is a legal document that is required to begin court proceedings to intervene in the parent/child relationship, establishing the child as a court dependent. The petition states the reasons why dependency and removal from the home is being requested.

When a child is taken into temporary custody, the referral that is created is termed a “in-custody” referral. If a petition is filed on behalf of a child who is not removed from the care of his/her parents, it is referred to as an out-of-custody referral.

An Initial Hearing is held so that the court can determine whether the facts/evidence warranting removal have been established. If the court determines removal is appropriate, the matter is continued to the Jurisdictional/Dispositional Hearing.

Jurisdictional/Dispositional Hearing

The Jurisdictional/Dispositional Hearing is a bifurcated hearing; meaning that it is one hearing divided into two parts, jurisdiction and disposition. It is during the jurisdictional part of the hearing that the allegations in the petition are addressed. If the petition is found to be true, the Court has a legal basis for taking jurisdiction over the child to protect the child’s well-being.

The Disposition is normally one part of the Jurisdictional/Dispositional Hearing. However, there are some circumstances in which the Jurisdiction Hearing and the Disposition Hearing are heard at separate times. Disposition is the stage of the juvenile court process at which the court determines if the child should be made a dependent of the Court and, if so, who shall have custody and control over the child. In order to make a child a dependent or ward of the court, the facts must be proven.

The Court also makes orders concerning the child’s placement, services to the family and contacts between the child and family members. Following the Dispositional Hearing reviews are periodically conducted, as determined by the court, which occur no less than once every six months.

Status Review Hearing

The Status Review Hearing occurs no less than six months from the date of the original dispositional hearing. The purpose of this hearing is to update the status of every child under court supervision and not removed from the physical custody of his/her parent(s) and the status of every dependent child in foster care.

At each Status Review Hearing, the SW submits a Status Review Report to the court to discuss the child’s current status and the parent(s) progress. Recommendations are made by the SW to the court regarding services, placement of the child, and whether ongoing court supervision is needed. A completed “Foster Child’s Data Record and AFDC-FC Certification” (SOC 158A) must be submitted to the FC EW at:

Approval
Change of placement type
Foster Care yearly review

Status Review hearings occur once every six months, as calculated from the date of the original dispositional hearing date. Review Hearings continue until the case is dismissed however, depending upon the circumstances, a Status Review Hearing will be set as a Permanency Planning Hearing.

Permanency Planning Hearing

The PPH is generally held no later than 12 months after the date the child entered foster care. The PPH is the second Status Review Hearing. During this hearing the court determines the permanent plan for the child, which includes a determination of whether the child will be returned home. This hearing may occur at the 6, 12, or 18 month review.

The following steps provides a brief general overview of the SW process:

Referral investigated
1. If allegations warrant removal, then out-of-home placement occurs.
2. Petition is filed with Juvenile Court and a hearing is scheduled to review and issues, if warranted, a detention order.
Jurisdiction/Dispositional Hearing
1. SW presents facts to the Court.
  1. If the Court determines that the petition is not warranted, then the request for dependency and placement are dismissed and the child is returned home.
  2. If the Court determines that the petition is valid, child becomes a dependent and placement options are determined.
Six Month Review (Status Review Hearing)
1. SW updates the Court on the family progress and review the need to keep the child out of the home.

DFCS Petitions

The following section contains information regarding the types of DFCS petitions to consider when attempting to establish the petition date for AFDC linkage. The chart listed below includes original, amended, supplemental, modification, subsequent and supplemental petitions.

Note: The Chart below addresses petitions, not court orders.

If the filed petition is...	Filed Under	And the situation is...	Then the petition date to use to determine linkage is...
Original	WIC 300	Child removed from the home of a parent or legal guardian without an open petition,	Original
Amended		Additional facts added to a new petition after the detention hearing but before the jurisdiction hearing.	Original
Supplemental (to original)	Section 387	Open dependency. The child was returned home on a family maintenance plan, was not in a foster care placement, but plan was ineffective and the child removed.	Supplemental
	Section 387	Open dependency. Child was removed from one parent and placed with second parent, not in foster care placement. Child was not removed from second parent.	Supplemental
	Section 387	Child removed from Legal Guardian and original dependency reinstated.	Original
	Section 387	If child was a dependent and is now removed from a Legal Guardianship and original dependency is reinstated.	Original.
Subsequent/ Supplemental	Section 342/387	Open dependency exists. Removal from parent due to new allegations filed*.	Subsequent/Supplemental
*In rare instances, a 342/387 petition could be filed against a legal guardian due to new allegations filed.

Other Petitions

The following table illustrates other types of petitions that the FC EW might see. This information is included for informational purposes only. The FC EW will not use these petition dates to determine whether there is AFDC linkage:

If the filed petition is...	Filed under	And the situation is...	Then
Subsequent	Section 342	Open dependency exists. New allegations filed but SW not removing child from parent.	No FC EW action is required.
Subsequent	Section 342	Open dependency exists. Child in placement never returned home. New allegations filed.
Supplemental	Section 387	Child moved to a more restricted level of care such as from FFA to Group Home.
Modification	Section 388	Open dependency exists. Changes to previous court order such as new permanent plan, visitation, reinstatement of family reunification services, etc.