Title 9 — Family Law

The Department of Finance and Administration shall transfer funds as needed from the State Administration of Justice Fund to the State Central Services Fund in amounts as are required to reimburse the State Central Services Fund for a portion of the expenses of the Division of De…

(a) The state may request an extended juvenile jurisdiction designation in a delinquency petition or file a separate motion if the:(1) Juvenile, under thirteen (13) years of age at the time of the alleged offense, is charged with capital murder, § 5-10-101, murder in the first de…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of § 5-2-301 et seq. shall apply to the following:(1) In any juvenile delinquency proceeding in which the juvenile's fitness to proceed is put in issue by any party or the court; and(2) In juvenile delinquen…

(a) (1) When a party requests an extended juvenile jurisdiction designation, the court shall hold a designation hearing within thirty (30) days if the juvenile is detained and no longer than ninety (90) days following the petition or motion requesting such designation.(2) These t…

(a) An extended juvenile jurisdiction offender shall have a right to counsel at every stage of the proceedings, including all reviews. (b) This right to counsel cannot be waived.

(a) An extended juvenile jurisdiction offender and the state shall have the right to a jury trial at the adjudication hearing. (b) The juvenile shall be advised of the right to a jury trial by the circuit court following a determination that the juvenile will be tried as an exten…

(1) If a juvenile is found delinquent as an extended juvenile jurisdiction offender, the circuit court shall enter the following dispositions:(1) Order any of the juvenile dispositions authorized by § 9-35-423; and(2) Suspend the imposition of an adult sentence pending court revi…

(a) The state may petition the circuit court at any time to impose an adult sentence if the juvenile:(1) Has violated a juvenile disposition order;(2) Has been adjudicated delinquent or found guilty of committing a new offense; or(3) Is not amenable to rehabilitation in the juven…

(a) Records of juveniles who are designated as extended juvenile jurisdiction offenders shall be kept for ten (10) years after the last adjudication of delinquency, date of plea of guilty or nolo contendere, or finding of guilt as an adult, or until the juvenile's twenty-first bi…

(a) The court has sole release authority for juveniles in extended juvenile jurisdiction proceedings. (b) In every case in which an order of commitment has been entered pursuant to an adjudication of delinquency, the facility to which the juvenile is committed shall, within thirt…

(a) (1) A juvenile who has received an adult sentence to the Division of Correction shall not be transported to the Division of Correction until the juvenile is sixteen (16) years of age.(2) If a juvenile receives a sentence to the Division of Correction before the juvenile's six…

(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas that:(1) Juveniles receive mental health services in their communities whenever possible and in the least restrictive placement consistent with the juvenile's treatment needs;(2) Juveniles be placed out of stat…

(a) Prior to the circuit court's ordering a juvenile to an out-of-state residential placement, excluding border state placements as defined by Medicaid, the court shall refer a juvenile for an assessment by the Department of Human Services or the department's designee to include,…

(a) When a mental health screening or assessment is provided to the juvenile division of a circuit court, the screening or assessment shall include, but not be limited to, the following:(1) The mental health services needed for the juvenile and the juvenile's family; and(2) The s…

It is the intent of the General Assembly to provide for representation for parents of a minor who is the subject of a dependency-neglect case in the juvenile division of circuit court.

As used in this subchapter, “parent” means the same as under § 9-35-102, and “parent” also includes a guardian as defined under § 9-35-102 and a custodian as defined under § 9-35-102.

(a) (1) (A) There is created a Commission for Parent Counsel consisting of seven (7) members appointed to serve six-year staggered terms, each of whom shall serve until a qualified successor is appointed.(B) The membership of the Commission for Parent Counsel shall be appointed i…

(a) (1) The Commission for Parent Counsel shall enter into contracts with attorneys in order to provide counsel required by the circuit court in certain cases in the juvenile division of circuit court for a parent of a minor subject to a juvenile case.(2) The Commission for Paren…

The Commission for Parent Counsel may establish rules not otherwise addressed by this subchapter for its own governing for the administrative affairs of the commission and to effectuate the intent of this subchapter.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Family Treatment Specialty Court Act”.

(a) There is a critical need for judicial intervention and support for effective treatment programs that reduce the incidence of family separation due to substance use disorders and mental health disorders. (b) Family treatment specialty courts shall:(1) Use a multidisciplinary, …

(a) A family treatment specialty court is a specialized court within the existing structure of the court system. (b) A circuit court may establish a family treatment specialty court program for families involved in a dependency-neglect proceeding in the juvenile division of circu…

(a) A family treatment specialty court shall serve as an available means of disposition within a dependency-neglect matter and shall differ from the traditional adversarial trial system. (b) Each family treatment specialty court shall develop a policy and procedure manual for the…

(a) Participation in a family treatment specialty court is voluntary. (b) A person is eligible for participation in a family treatment specialty court program if:(1) The person is a parent, guardian, custodian, or other caretaker of a juvenile found by the court to be dependent o…

(a) Each approved family treatment specialty court shall establish a fund known as the “Family Treatment Specialty Court Program Fund”. (b) Approval of the judge presiding over the family treatment specialty court program is required for all expenditures from the fund. (c) Expend…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Safeguards for Children in Foster Care Act”.

(a) The General Assembly acknowledges that society has a responsibility, along with foster parents and the Department of Human Services, for the well-being of children in foster care. (b) Every child in foster care is endowed with the opportunities inherently belonging to all chi…

(a) Special safeguards, resources, and care should be provided to children involved in dependency-neglect cases who are in foster care or in an out-of-home placement because of the temporary or permanent separation from parents. (b) A child in foster care in the State of Arkansas…

The General Assembly recognizes that the state has a responsibility to protect children from abuse and neglect by providing services and supports that promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of the children and families of Arkansas.

There is created the Division of Children and Family Services within the Department of Human Services.

(a) The Division of Children and Family Services shall perform the following functions and have the authority and responsibility to:(1) Coordinate communication between various components of the child welfare system;(2) Provide services to dependent-neglected children and their f…

(a) The General Assembly recognizes that children are defenseless and that there is no greater moral obligation upon the General Assembly than to provide for the protection of our children and that our child welfare system needs to be strengthened by establishing a clear policy o…

(1) In all custodial placements by the Department of Human Services in foster care or adoption, preferential consideration shall be given to an adult relative over a nonrelated caregiver, if:(1) The relative caregiver meets all relevant child protection standards; and(2) It is in…

(a) The Department of Human Services and any other agency or entity that receives federal assistance and is involved in adoption or foster care placement shall not:(1) Discriminate on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of either the adoptive parent, foster parent, o…

(a) The Department of Human Services shall exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to all adult grandparents, all parents of a sibling of the juvenile where the parent has legal custody of the sibling, and other adult relatives of a juvenile transferred to the custo…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Fictive kin” means a person selected by the Division of Children and Family Services who:(A) Is not related to a child by blood or marriage; and(B) Has a strong, positive, and emotional tie or role in the:(i) Child's life; or(ii) Child's parent's …

(a) The policy of the State of Arkansas is that each child placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services should have stable placements. (b) (1) To reduce the number of placements of children in foster care, if a foster parent requests a foster child be removed from hi…

(1) The Department of Human Services shall not place or permit a child to remain in a foster home, unless it is in the best interest of the child to be placed in or to remain in the foster home, if the foster parent:(1) Or any other member of the household smokes; or(2) Allows an…

(a) The Department of Human Services shall be responsible for developing case plans in all dependency-neglect cases and in family-in-need-of-services cases when custody is transferred to the department under § 9-35-318. The case plan shall be:(1) (A) Developed in consultation wit…

(a) The Department of Human Services and school districts shall work together for the best interest of any child placed in the custody of the department. (b) By the next business day after the department exercises a seventy-two-hour hold on a child or a court places custody of a …

(a) (1) (A) It is the intent of the General Assembly that each child in foster care is:(i) Entitled to the same opportunities to meet the academic achievement standards to which all children are held;(ii) Assisted so that the child can remain in his or her school of origin;(iii) …

(a) The General Assembly finds that:(1) Each juvenile in foster care should have a family for a lifetime, but too many juveniles in foster care reach the age of majority without being successfully reunited with their biological families and without the security of permanent homes…

(a) A foster parent approved by a child placement agency licensed by the Department of Human Services shall not be liable for:(1) Damages caused by a foster child; or(2) Injuries to a foster child caused by acts or omissions of the foster parents unless the acts or omissions cons…

(a) (1) A child in the custody of the Department of Human Services shall not be placed in an approved home of any foster parent or adoptive parent unless all household members eighteen and one-half (18½) years of age and older, excluding children in foster care, have been checked…

(a) Local law enforcement shall provide the Department of Human Services with criminal background information on persons who have applied to be a provisional foster home, a regular foster home, or an adoptive home for the department upon request from the department. (b) Local law…

(1) All Division of Children and Family Services caseworkers, supervisors, and area directors shall have at least one (1) hour of annual training on issues related to:(1) Separation and placement; and(2) The grief and loss that children experience in foster care with multiple pla…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Business” means any corporation, partnership, cable television company, association, individual, or utility company that is organized privately, as a cooperative, or as a quasi-public entity, and labor or other organization maintaining an office, …

(a) (1) The Department of Human Services shall place a notice on the department's web page when a fatality or near fatality of a child is reported to the Child Abuse Hotline under the Child Maltreatment Act, § 12-18-101 et seq., within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of a repor…

(a) (1) The Division of Youth Services shall establish a method to calculate state costs saved that are realized from a reduction in the number of secure out-of-home placements.(2) (A) The division shall develop a reinvestment plan to redirect savings realized from a reduction in…

(a) The General Assembly recognizes that the state has a responsibility to provide its youth with appropriate services and programs to help decrease the number of juvenile offenders in the state and to create a better future for the state's youth and that reforms in the juvenile …