Title 8 — Child Safety

B. If a public education agency notifies the department that the child requires an initial evaluation for special education and related services and the parent identified pursuant to subsection A of this section cannot be located or does not attempt to participate, the department…

A. In the absence of a juvenile court order, a child shall not remain in a receiving foster home for a period of more than three weeks. B. Juvenile court orders extending receiving foster home placement beyond three weeks shall be reviewed by the juvenile court at least once each…

A. The presiding judge of the juvenile court in each county shall establish local foster care review boards for the review of cases of children who are in out-of-home placement and who are the subject of a dependency action to assist in the review required pursuant to section 8-8…

A. The juvenile court in each county shall assign cases of children in out-of-home placement to a local board so that local boards are assigned an approximately equal number of children. In a case where a child resides in a county other than the resident county of the child's par…

A. Local foster care review boards shall: 1. Review within six months of placement and at least once every six months thereafter the case of each child who remains in out-of-home placement and who is the subject of a dependency action to determine what efforts have been made by t…

A. The state foster care review board is established within the supreme court consisting of three persons who have knowledge of the problems of foster care and who are appointed by the supreme court and of the members of the local foster care review boards who are appointed by th…

B. If the licensed foster parent disagrees with the removal, the licensed foster parent shall notify the department within twenty-four hours of being informed. If the licensed foster parent disagrees with the plan to remove the child and place the child in another foster home pla…

A. A licensed child welfare agency shall maintain supervision of all children placed by it in foster homes and such foster homes. B. The agency's representative shall contact the foster homes and written reports of the representative's findings shall be maintained by such agency,…

The division or agency that placed the child may withdraw a child from a foster home only when the division or agency determines that withdrawal is according to written, specific standards and is clearly necessary for the child's interests and welfare. The division may change the…

A. The division shall maintain a central registry of all licensed foster homes. B. All foster home parents shall report any change of their address or marital status to the division and agency.

A. Each child welfare agency shall keep records regarding the children in its care as the division prescribes and shall furnish to the division, on request, such additional information as the division requires. B. The department shall provide information necessary for foster care…

Any agency, society, association, institution or person, whether incorporated or unincorporated, and any individual acting for or in its name, which engages in caring for children or children and adults or of placing children for care pursuant to this article, without having firs…

A. The department or a licensed child welfare agency may establish an independent living program for youths who are the subject of a dependency petition or who are adjudicated dependent and are all of the following: 1. In the custody of the department, a licensed child welfare ag…

A. The department may establish a transitional independent living program for persons who meet the following qualifications: 1. The person is under twenty-one years of age. 2. The person was the subject of a dependency petition, adjudicated dependent or placed voluntarily pursuan…

A. The department may establish an extended foster care program for qualified young adults. To participate in the program, a qualified young adult must meet all of the following requirements: 1. Have been in the custody of the department as a dependent child when the young adult …

A. Within ten days after September 26, 2025, the department shall prepare a scope of work for an extended foster care comprehensive service model that includes supportive services and required case management provided by contracted community providers for young adults who partici…

A. The presiding judge of the juvenile court in each county may appoint an adult as a special advocate for a child who is the subject of a dependency action. The court shall make this appointment at the earliest possible stage in the proceedings. A child, through the child's spec…

A. The court appointed special advocate program is established in the administrative office of the supreme court. The program shall establish local special advocate programs in each county. The supreme court shall adopt rules prescribing the establishment of local programs and th…

A. The court appointed special advocate and vulnerable persons fund is established consisting of monies received pursuant to section 5-568. The fund is subject to annual legislative appropriation. Monies appropriated by the legislature from the court appointed special advocate an…

A. Except as otherwise provided pursuant to this section and section 8-537, court proceedings relating to dependent children, permanent guardianship and termination of parental rights are open to the public. B. At the first hearing in any dependency, permanent guardianship or ter…

A. The department shall make available program and outcomes data on its website as provided in this section, in a format that can be downloaded and that is conducive to analysis. B. The department shall make available the following information on a semiannual basis by September 3…

(Rpld. 1/1/27) A. For each six-month period beginning on January 1 or July 1, the department shall make available: 1. For runaway children, all of the following: (a) The number of individual children who were on runaway status on the last day of the prior reporting period. (b) Th…

The agency, division and Arizona health care cost containment system administration in accordance with section 36-3435, subsection B shall make every reasonable effort to not remove a child who is placed in out-of-home care from school during regular school hours for appointments…

A. The placement of newborn infants who are left with safe haven providers pursuant to section 13-3623.01 shall follow the protocols prescribed in this section. B. If a newborn infant is left with a private child welfare agency that is licensed pursuant to this article or with a …

A. A child in foster care and kinship foster care has the following rights: 1. To appropriate care and treatment in the least restrictive setting available that can meet the child's needs according to the best judgment of the foster parent. 2. To live in a safe, healthy and comfo…

A. A foster parent or kinship foster care parent in this state has the following rights: 1. To be treated with consideration and respect for the foster parent or kinship foster care parent's personal dignity and privacy. 2. To be included as a valued member of the team that provi…

A. If a child who has been in foster care is returned to the child's home then removed again from the child's home, the department shall notify all foster homes in which the child previously resided that the child has been removed from the child's home, unless the previous foster…

On or before February 1 each year, the Arizona early childhood development and health board and the department shall jointly report to the joint legislative budget committee on their collaborative efforts to address child welfare issues of common concern during the prior year. Th…

B. Procedural time limits established pursuant to this chapter may not be waived, extended or continued unless it is necessary for the full, fair and proper presentation of evidence. A continuance of a procedural time limit may not be granted if the delay is not in the best inter…

B. Within two days after it is determined that a change of educational placement is in the best interest of the child, the new educational institution shall enroll the child and the child's school of origin shall transfer the child's education records to the child's new education…

B. The arbitration process shall include provisions to ensure transportation to the school of origin or current educational placement if a prior best interest determination has been made until the dispute is resolved. C. A decision resolving a dispute pursuant to this section sha…

B. An employee of a group foster home may not have contact with any child living at the group foster home before an initial drug screening. C. The department may conduct random drug screening of any group foster home employee if the employee is involved in an accident or incident…

B. On or before December 31, 2025, the department shall submit a report that outlines the adopted policies and procedures to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives and shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state…

1. Work with the child, if developmentally appropriate, the child's attorney and the child's family and service team to do both of the following: (a) Establish a plan to place a child in an appropriate family-like setting. The plan shall be specific to the child and, if applicabl…

A. When a department caseworker visits a child at the child's school for the purpose of an interview, the caseworker shall present the caseworker's department of child safety identification. The caseworker may be asked to show the caseworker's valid driver license or valid nonope…

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Abandonment" means the failure of a parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with the child, including providing normal supervision. Abandonment includes a judicial finding that a parent has m…

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no child who in good faith is being furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited practitioner shall, for that reason alone, be considered to be an abused, neglected or dependent child.

A. The juvenile court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over petitions to terminate the parent-child relationship when the child involved is present in this state. B. The juvenile court shall continue to have exclusive original jurisdiction when the juvenile is in the le…

A. Any person or agency that has a legitimate interest in the welfare of a child, including a relative, a foster parent, a physician, the department or a private licensed child welfare agency, may file a petition for the termination of the parent-child relationship alleging groun…

A. The petition for the termination of the parent-child relationship filed pursuant to this article shall include, to the best information or belief of the petitioner: 1. The name and place of residence of the petitioner. 2. The name, sex, date and place of birth and residence of…

A. After the petition has been filed, the clerk of the superior court shall set a time and place for the initial hearing. Notice of the initial hearing and a copy of the petition shall be given to the parents of the child, the guardian of the person of the child, the person havin…

A. On the filing of a petition, the court shall order that the department, an agency or another person selected by the court conduct or cause to be conducted a complete social study and that a report in writing of such study be submitted to the court before a hearing. The court m…

A. If a petition for terminating the parent-child relationship is contested, the court shall hold a termination adjudication hearing within ninety days after the initial severance hearing. The general public shall be excluded and only such persons admitted whose presence the judg…

A. Every order of the court terminating the parent-child relationship or transferring legal custody or guardianship of the person of the child or providing for protective supervision of the child shall be in writing and shall recite the findings on which the order is based, inclu…

An order terminating the parent-child relationship shall divest the parent and the child of all legal rights, privileges, duties and obligations with respect to each other except the right of the child to inherit and support from the parent. This right of inheritance and support …

A. There shall be no fees assessed for the filing of a petition to terminate the parent-child relationship. B. All court costs, including the cost of giving notice and advertising shall be paid by the petitioners if the court so orders. The court may suspend such costs where paym…

A. All files, records, reports and other papers compiled in accord with this article, whether filed in or in possession of the court, a child placement agency or other agency or association, are subject to disclosure pursuant to sections 8-807 and 8-807.01. B. This section does n…

A. It is unlawful, except for purposes for which files and records or social records or parts of or information from files and records or social records have been released pursuant to section 8-541, or except for purposes permitted by order of the court, for any person to knowing…

A. The administrative office of the courts shall establish a sibling information exchange program to facilitate contact between a former dependent child and the child's sibling or siblings. B. The following persons may participate in the program: 1. An adult who is a former depen…

When the relationship of parent and child has been terminated by judicial decree in another state, such decree shall have the same force and effect as to matters within the jurisdiction of this state as though it had been granted by a court of this state.