Title FCT, Family Court

§ 1011. Purpose. This article is designed to establish procedures to help protect children from injury or mistreatment and to help safeguard their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It is designed to provide a due process of law for determining when the state, through i…

§ 1012. Definitions. When used in this article and unless the specific context indicates otherwise: (a) "Respondent" includes any parent or other person legally responsible for a child's care who is alleged to have abused or neglected such child; (b) "Child" means any person or …

§ 1013. Jurisdiction. (a) The family court has exclusive original jurisdiction over proceedings under this article alleging the abuse or neglect of a child. (b) For the protection of children, the family court has jurisdiction over proceedings under this article notwithstanding …

§ 1014. Transfer to and from family court; concurrent proceedings. (a) The family court may transfer upon a hearing any proceedings originated under this article to an appropriate criminal court or may refer such proceeding to the appropriate district attorney if it concludes, t…

§ 1015. Venue. (a) Proceedings under this article may be originated in the county in which the child resides or is domiciled at the time of the filing of the petition or in the county in which the person having custody of the child resides or is domiciled. For the purposes of th…

§ 1015-a. Court-ordered services. In any proceeding under this article, the court may order a social services official to provide or arrange for the provision of services or assistance to the child and their family to facilitate the protection of the child, the rehabilitation of…

§ 1016. Appointment of attorney for the child. The court shall appoint an attorney to represent a child who has been allegedly abused or neglected upon the earliest occurrence of any of the following: (i) the court receiving notice, pursuant to paragraph (iv) of subdivision (b) …

§ 1017. Placement of children. 1. In any proceeding under this article, when the court determines that a child must be removed from his or her home, pursuant to part two of this article, or placed, pursuant to section one thousand fifty-five of this article: (a) the court shall …

§ 1018. Conferencing and mediation. In any proceeding initiated pursuant to this article, the court may, at its discretion, authorize the use of conferencing or mediation at any point in the proceedings to further a plan for the child that fosters the child's health, safety, and…

§ 1021. Temporary removal with consent. A peace officer, acting pursuant to his or her special duties, or a police officer or an agent of a duly authorized agency, association, society or institution may temporarily remove a child from the place where he or she is residing with …

§ 1022. Preliminary orders of court before petition filed. (a) (i) The family court may enter an order directing the temporary removal of a child from the place where he or she is residing before the filing of a petition under this article, if (A) the parent or other person lega…

§ 1022-a. Preliminary orders; notice and appointment of counsel. At a hearing held pursuant to section one thousand twenty-two of this part at which the respondent is present, the court shall advise the respondent and any non-respondent parent who is present of the allegations i…

§ 1023. Procedure for issuance of temporary order. Any person who may originate a proceeding under this article may apply for, or the court on its own motion may issue, an order of temporary removal under section one thousand twenty-two or one thousand twenty-seven or an order f…

§ 1024. Emergency removal without court order. (a) A peace officer, acting pursuant to his or her special duties, police officer, or a law enforcement official, or a designated employee of a city or county department of social services shall take all necessary measures to protec…

§ 1026. Action by the appropriate person designated by the court and child protective agency upon emergency removal. (a) The appropriate person designated by the court or a child protective agency when informed that there has been an emergency removal of a child from his or her …

§ 1027. Hearing and preliminary orders after filing of petition. (a) (i) In any case where the child has been removed without court order or where there has been a hearing pursuant to section one thousand twenty-two of this part at which the respondent was not present, or was no…

§ 1027-a. Placement of siblings; contact with siblings. (a) When a social services official removes a child pursuant to this part, such official shall place such child with his or her minor siblings or half-siblings who have been or are being remanded to or placed in the care an…

§ 1028. Application to return child temporarily removed. (a) Upon the application of the parent or other person legally responsible for the care of a child temporarily removed under this part or upon the application of the child's attorney for an order returning the child, the c…

§ 1028-a. Application of a relative to become a foster parent. (a) Upon the application of a relative to become a foster parent of a child in foster care, the court shall, subject to the provisions of this subdivision, hold a hearing to determine whether the child should be plac…

§ 1029. Temporary order of protection. (a) The family court, upon the application of any person who may originate a proceeding under this article, for good cause shown, may issue a temporary order of protection, before or after the filing of such petition, which may contain any …

§ 1030. Order of visitation by a respondent. (a) A respondent shall have the right to reasonable and regularly scheduled visitation with a child in the temporary custody of a social services official pursuant to this part or pursuant to subdivision (d) of section one thousand fi…

§ 1031. Originating proceeding to determine abuse or neglect. (a) A proceeding under this article is originated by the filing of a petition in which facts sufficient to establish that a child is an abused or neglected child under this article are alleged. (b) Allegations of abus…

§ 1032. Persons who may originate proceedings. The following may originate a proceeding under this article: (a) a child protective agency, or (b) a person on the court's direction.

§ 1033. Access to the court for the purpose of filing a petition. Any person seeking to file a petition at the court's direction, pursuant to subdivision (b) of section one thousand thirty-two shall have access to the court for the purpose of making an ex parte application there…

§ 1033-a. Initial appearance. For the purposes of this section, "initial appearance" means the proceeding on the date the respondent first appears before the court after the petition has been filed and any adjournments thereof.

§ 1033-b. Initial appearance; procedures. 1. (a) At the initial appearance, the court shall appoint an attorney to represent the interests of any child named in a petition who is alleged to be abused or neglected, unless an attorney has already been appointed for such child purs…

§ 1034. Power to order investigations. 1. A family court judge may order the child protective service of the appropriate social services district to conduct a child protective investigation as described by the social services law and report its findings to the court: (a) in any …

§ 1035. Issuance of summons; notice to certain interested persons and intervention. (a) On the filing of a petition under this article where the child has been removed from his or her home, unless a warrant is issued pursuant to section one thousand thirty-seven of this part, th…

§ 1036. Service of summons. (a) Except as provided for in subdivision (c) of this section, in cases involving abuse, the petition and summons shall be served within two court days after their issuance. If they cannot be served within that time, such fact shall be reported to the…

§ 1037. Issuance of warrant and reports to court. (a) The court may issue a warrant directing the parent, or other person legally responsible for the child's care or with whom he is residing to be brought before the court, when a petition is filed with the court under this artic…

§ 1038. Records and discovery involving abuse and neglect. (a) Each hospital and any other public or private agency having custody of any records, photographs or other evidence relating to abuse or neglect, upon the subpoena of the court, the corporation counsel, county attorney…

§ 1038-a. Discovery; upon court order. Upon motion of a petitioner or attorney for the child, the court may order a respondent to provide nontestimonial evidence, only if the court finds probable cause that the evidence is reasonably related to establishing the allegations in a …

§ 1039. Adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. (a) Prior to or upon a fact-finding hearing, the court may upon a motion by the petitioner with the consent of the respondent and the child's attorney or upon its own motion with the consent of the petitioner, the respondent and…

§ 1039-a. Procedures following adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. The local child protective service shall notify the child's attorney of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment in which the respondent is a subject of the report or another person named in the r…

§ 1039-b. Termination of reasonable efforts. (a) In conjunction with, or at any time subsequent to, the filing of a petition under section ten hundred thirty-one of this chapter, the social services official may file a motion upon notice requesting a finding that reasonable effo…

§ 1040. Notice and right to be heard. The foster parent caring for the child or any pre-adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child shall be provided with notice of any permanency hearing held pursuant to this article by the social services official. Such foster par…

§ 1041. Required findings concerning notice. No factfinding hearing may commence under this article unless the court enters a finding: (a) that the parent or other person legally responsible for the child's care is present at the hearing and has been served with a copy of the pe…

§ 1042. Effect of absence of parent or other person responsible for care. If the parent or other person legally responsible for the child's care is not present, the court may proceed to hear a petition under this article only if the child is represented by counsel. The parent or…

§ 1043. Hearings not open to the public. The general public may be excluded from any hearing under this article and only such persons and the representatives of authorized agencies admitted thereto as have an interest in the case.

§ 1044. Definition of "fact-finding hearing". When used in this article, "fact-finding hearing" means a hearing to determine whether the child is an abused or neglected child as defined by this article.

§ 1045. Definition of "dispositional hearing". When used in this article, "dispositional hearing" means a hearing to determine what order of disposition should be made.

§ 1046. Evidence. (a) In any hearing under this article and article ten-A of this act: (i) proof of the abuse or neglect of one child shall be admissible evidence on the issue of the abuse or neglect of any other child of, or the legal responsibility of, the respondent; and (ii)…

§ 1047. Sequence of hearings. (a) Upon completion of the fact-finding hearing, the dispositional hearing may commence immediately after the required findings are made. (b) Reports prepared by the probation service or a duly authorized association, agency, society or institution …

§ 1048. Adjournments. (a) The court may adjourn a fact-finding hearing or a dispositional hearing for good cause shown on its own motion, or on motion of the corporation counsel, county attorney or district attorney, or on motion of the petitioner or on motion of the child or on…

§ 1049. Special consideration in certain cases. In scheduling hearings and investigations, the court shall give priority to proceedings under this article involving abuse or in which a child has been removed from home before a final order of disposition. Any adjournment granted …

§ 1051. Sustaining or dismissing petition. (a) If facts sufficient to sustain the petition are established in accord with part four of this article, or if all parties and the attorney for the child consent, the court shall, subject to the provisions of subdivision (c) of this se…

§ 1052. Disposition on adjudication. (a) At the conclusion of a dispositional hearing under this article, the court shall enter an order of disposition directing one or more of the following: (i) suspending judgment in accord with section one thousand fifty-three of this part; o…

§ 1052-a. Post-dispositional procedures. The local child protective service shall notify the child's attorney of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment in which the respondent is a subject of the report or another person named in the report, as such terms are defined…

§ 1052-b. Duties of counsel. 1. If the court has entered a dispositional order pursuant to section one thousand fifty-two it shall be the duty of the respondent's counsel promptly to advise such respondent in writing of his or her right to appeal to the appropriate appellate div…

§ 1052-c. Duty to report investigations to locate non-respondent parents or relatives. Upon a determination by the court to enter an order of disposition placing the child in accordance with section one thousand fifty-five of this part, the court shall immediately require the lo…