What’s the Difference Between Reunification and Permanent Placement in Juvenile Dependency?

When it comes to Child Protective Services (CPS) and juvenile dependency court, you’ll often hear words like permanency planning and family reunification tossed around. As a parent or guardian, understanding these terms can be intimidating. By working with a dependency court lawyer in California, you can gain an understanding of permanency and reunification in juvenile court. More importantly, you can learn what it takes to regain custody of your child, so your family can be whole again.

The reunification process begins after the jurisdiction and disposition hearing. At this point, the court has determined that the petition is valid and additional steps are required for the parent to regain custody.

At this point, a range of different things can happen. For instance, if you suffer from a mental illness, the judge may require that the illness be medicated and under control before the child returns to your care. Alternatively, someone who is homeless may be expected to find adequate shelter and food before they can have their child back.

At what point does permanency planning begin when you’re dealing with CPS? Permanency planning begins as soon as the child starts interacting with the child welfare system. In fact, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires that agencies work to find a safe, permanent solution for children.

In practice, the application of the ASFA can vary significantly. During a permanency planning hearing, a judge may recommend family reunification and different services. Unfortunately, reunification in juvenile court isn’t always possible. In these cases, the child may be placed up for adoption.

It’s important to get professional legal help before the permanent placement of a child is decided. A juvenile dependency lawyer can walk you through the steps required to get custody back. If the court gives you specific therapies, programs, or other requirements to complete during the reunification, it’s essential to fulfill all of these requirements to the best of your ability.

While reunification and permanent placement both involve the child getting a permanent living situation, the type of living situation varies significantly. The entire goal of family reunification plans is to help the child return to their family. Because of this, the plan typically involves services and forms of aid that will help the family regain custody.

In comparison, permanent placement is intended to find a permanent living solution for the child. This may be in a foster care situation, adoption, or with a different family member.

Sometimes, the court is forced to choose permanent placement over reunification because the child has already spent so much time in the foster care system. Under Rule 5.820, a child can only remain in foster care for 15 out of the last 22 months. If this cutoff is passed, then the juvenile dependency court will seek a permanent solution for the child.

Ultimately, the court’s main goal is to find a safe, permanent solution for the child. With this in mind, the juvenile dependency judge will often require specific treatment programs or therapies. They may recommend different types of aid, such as housing assistance, that will help the parent create a safer home life.

As a parent, you should talk to a lawyer about your situation. Initially, one of the best things you can do is to fight the petition in a jurisdiction hearing. If the judge decides the petition is true, the next step is following your case plan as accurately as possible. While the court can extend the timeline through extra hearings, there is a point where they will eventually decide that permanency planning needs to happen in some other way.

With the help of a juvenile dependency attorney, you can learn more about reunification in juvenile court. Because of how serious the consequences can be, it’s important to be proactive about fighting your CPS case. For more information and support, call our juvenile dependency attorneys today.