JUVENILE DEPENDENCY

1. A dependency is a decision by the Juvenile Court that a child is in need of effective care and control and that all parents are unable or unwilling to provide proper care and control. Usually, a Dependency Petition is filed by the state because concerns about abuse or neglect have been reported to CPS and there is evidence of immediate danger to the child(ren).
   

   You may file a dependency petition if you believe that there is no parent or guardian willing or able to provide proper care and control over a child.

   Examples include:

   ●  child is abused or abandoned

   ●  child is neglected because parent or guardian abuses drugs or alcohol

   ●  parent or guardian is not able to meet the child's needs

   ● parent or guardian is unable to provide the child with basic necessities such as suitable housing, food or necessary medical care.

   A Dependency Petition may involve an investigation and report by CPS. It may also involve appointing attorneys for the parents and the child(ren), a temporary custody hearing, and possibly a pretrial conference and trial. If the Juvenile Court finds that the child is dependent because the parents are unable or unwilling to provide care, the court decides who will care for the child(ren). The Juvenile Court and CPS oversee the child(ren)'s care and services provided to the parents and the child(ren) in an effort to reunite the family.

   A dependent child remains under the Court's control until the Court declares that a parent has become willing and able to provide proper parenting. An order of dependency from the Juvenile Court will last until the child turns 18 or the Court changes or dismisses it.                                                
   

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Arizona Revised Statutes Section 8-201 defines a dependent child as follows:

         13.  "Dependent child":

     (a)  Means a child who is adjudicated to be:

     (i)  In need of proper and effective parental care and control and who has no parent or guardian, or one who has no parent or guardian willing to exercise or capable of exercising such care and control.

     (ii)  Destitute or who is not provided with the necessities of life, including adequate food, clothing, shelter or medical care.

     (iii)  A child whose home is unfit by reason of abuse, neglect, cruelty or depravity by a parent, a guardian or any other person having custody or care of the child.

     (iv)  Under eight years of age and who is found to have committed an act that would result in adjudication as a delinquent juvenile or incorrigible child if committed by an older juvenile or child.

     (v)  Incompetent or not restorable to competency and who is alleged to have committed a serious offense as defined in section 13-706.

     (b)  Does not include a child who in good faith is being furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited practitioner if none of the circumstances described in subdivision (a) of this paragraph exists.