12.40.210 Permanency hearings | Yurok Tribal Code

12.40.210 Permanency hearings.

Yurok holds permanency hearings for all children under the responsibility for placement and care of YSS including children under voluntary placement agreements.

(a) Timing. No later than 12 months from the “date the child entered foster care” and at least once every 12 months thereafter while the child remains in foster care, the Court must hold a permanency hearing. This hearing may be held in conjunction with a status review hearing. In any case in which no reunification services are offered, the permanency hearing must be held within 30 days of the disposition hearing. In the case of an abandoned infant, the permanency hearing must be held within 60 days of the disposition hearing.

(b) Purpose. The purpose of the permanency hearing is to determine a permanency plan for the child, including whether, and if applicable, when, the child will be:

(1) Returned home;

(2) Placed for a traditional adoption;

(3) Placed adoption with termination of parental rights;

(4) Referred for legal guardianship;

(5) Referred for permanent placement with a fit and willing relative; or

(6) In cases where YSS has concluded, after considering reunification, another permanent placement with a fit and willing relative, that the most appropriate permanency plan for a child is placement in another planned permanent living arrangement, YSS will document to the Court the compelling reason for the alternate plan.

(1) Whether YSS has made active efforts to alleviate and eliminate the need for removal of the child from parental care;

(2) Whether YSS has engaged in concurrent planning to develop an alternative permanent plan for the child in the event that the parent is unable to improve his/her circumstances sufficiently to retrieve custody of the child;

(3) Why permanent plans, other the ones selected, are not in the best interests of the child and that this is the least restrictive placement for the child;

(4) In all cases in which the court does not direct the filing of the petition to terminate parental rights the, court shall specify compelling reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child. Such compelling reasons might include:

(A) Maintaining a connection between the parent, extended family, and community is in the best interest of the child.

(B) A traditional adoption is in the best interest of the child.

(D) Assess YSS’s concurrent case planning and efforts to effect an alternative permanent plan in the event there is insufficient progress to restore custody;

(5) If the child has not been returned to the custody of his or her parent/guardian/caretaker at the permanency hearing, or if the child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the Court shall order a hearing under Chapter 12.45 YTC, unless the child is being cared for by a relative, YSS has documented in the case plan a compelling reason for not filing to terminate parental rights, or YSS has not provided to the family services that YSS deemed necessary for the safe return of the child when active efforts to reunify are required.

(A) In the case of a child who will not be returned to the parent, the hearing shall consider in-state/Tribal service area and out-of-state/Tribal service area placement options;

(B) In the case of a child placed out of the state/tribal service area in which the home of the parent(s) of the child is located, the hearing shall determine whether the out-of-state/tribal service area placement continues to be appropriate and in the best interests of the child;

(C) In the case of a child who has attained age 16, the services needed to assist the child to make the transition from foster care to independent living.

(1) In any permanency hearing held with respect to the child, including any hearing regarding the transition of the child from foster care to independent living, procedural safeguards shall be applied to assure the court consults, in an age-appropriate manner, with the child regarding the proposed permanency or transition plan for the child. These safeguards might include a hearing in chambers outside the presence of parties considering the child’s age and stage of development. In such a case, the parties will be entitled to a read back of the testimony transcript or a summary from court or counsel of the testimony.

(2) Procedural safeguards are also to be applied with respect to parental rights pertaining to the removal of the child from the home of his/her parent(s), to a change in the child’s placement, and to any determination affecting visitation privileges of parents.

(e) Long Term Foster Care. Long-term foster care arrangement with nonrelatives cannot be considered acceptable permanent placements unless there are specific reasons documented by the agency on a case-by-case basis as to why this should be permitted.

(f) Findings. The required findings at the Permanency Hearing are the same as those of a Status Review Hearing, outlined in Section 1703(d)(2)(D) herein, with the addition of the findings around the child’s permanency plan outlined in 1703(e)(2) herein. [Ord. 46A § 1705, adopted, 3/24/2016.]