SB1539 - 541R

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 8-144, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE8-144. Subsidy agreement; duration; amount; periodic review; confidentiality

A. The family entering into subsidized adoption and the department shall sign a subsidy agreement that contains a provision for periodic review as provided in subsection C D of this section before the final decree of adoption is issued, except as provided in subsection B of this section. Adoption subsidies may commence with the adoption placement or after the adoption decree, and will vary with the needs due to the special circumstances of the adopted child as well as the availability of other resources.

B. The adoption subsidy may continue either:

1. Through the age of twenty‑one if the individual is enrolled in and regularly attending school unless the person has received a high school diploma or certificate of equivalency.

2. Through the age of twenty, if the individual is adopted at sixteen or seventeen years of age and is one or more of the following:

(a) Completing secondary education or an educational program that leads to an equivalent credential or is enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary or vocational education.

(b) Employed at least eighty hours a month.

(d) Unable to be a full‑time student or to be employed because of a documented medical condition.

C. The subsidy may be for special services only or for money payments, and either for a limited period or for a long term, or for any combination thereof. The amount of the subsidy shall not exceed the payments allowable under foster family care. A special service subsidy shall not exceed the reasonable fee for the service rendered in accordance with costs and procedures for authorization of services as determined by the department.

C. D. There shall be a periodic review as defined by the department to determine the appropriateness and reasonableness of all subsidies and to ascertain the need for continuing or adjusting the subsidy.

D. E. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, an application may be made and granted on behalf of a child adopted pursuant to the laws of this state at any time for a new or increased adoption subsidy on documentation of an undiagnosed condition that existed before the finalization of the adoption.

E. F. All records regarding subsidized adoption shall be confidential and may be disclosed only in accordance with the rules of the department. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 8-201, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE8-201. Definitions

In this title, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Abandoned" means the failure of the parent to provide reasonable support and to maintain regular contact with the child, including providing normal supervision. Abandoned includes a judicial finding that a parent has made only minimal efforts to support and communicate with the child. Failure to maintain a normal parental relationship with the child without just cause for a period of six months constitutes prima facie evidence of abandonment.

2. "Abuse" means the infliction or allowing of physical injury, impairment of bodily function or disfigurement or the infliction of or allowing another person to cause serious emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal or untoward aggressive behavior and which emotional damage is diagnosed by a medical doctor or psychologist and is caused by the acts or omissions of an individual who has the care, custody and control of a child. Abuse includes:

(a) Inflicting or allowing sexual abuse pursuant to section 13‑1404, sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to section 13‑1405, sexual assault pursuant to section 13‑1406, molestation of a child pursuant to section 13‑1410, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3552, sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3553, incest pursuant to section 13‑3608 or child sex trafficking pursuant to section 13‑3212.

(b) Physical injury that results from permitting a child to enter or remain in any structure or vehicle in which volatile, toxic or flammable chemicals are found or equipment is possessed by any person for the purpose of manufacturing a dangerous drug as defined in section 13‑3401.

3. "Adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older.

4. "Adult court" means the appropriate justice court, municipal court or criminal division of the superior court that has jurisdiction to hear proceedings concerning offenses committed by juveniles as provided in sections 8‑327 and 13‑501.

5. "Award" or "commit" means to assign legal custody.

6. "Child", "youth" or "juvenile" means an individual who is under the age of eighteen years.

7. "Complaint" means a written statement of the essential facts constituting a public offense that is any of the following:

(a) Made on an oath before a judge or commissioner of the superior court or an authorized juvenile hearing officer.

(b) Made pursuant to section 13‑3903.

(c) Accompanied by an affidavit of a law enforcement officer or employee that swears on information and belief to the accuracy of the complaint pursuant to section 13‑4261.

8. "Criminal conduct allegation" means an allegation of conduct by a parent, guardian or custodian of a child or an adult member of the victim's household that, if true, would constitute any of the following:

(a) A violation of section 13‑3623 involving child abuse.

(b) A felony offense that constitutes domestic violence as defined in section 13‑3601.

(d) A violation of section 13‑1405, 13‑1410 or 13‑1417.

(e) Any other act of abuse that is classified as a felony.

(f) An offense that constitutes domestic violence as defined in section 13‑3601 and that involves a minor who is a victim of or was in imminent danger during the domestic violence.

9. "Custodian" means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian, who stands in loco parentis to the child or a person to whom legal custody of the child has been given by order of the juvenile court.

10. "DCS report" means a communication received by the centralized intake hotline that alleges child abuse or neglect and that meets the criteria for a report as prescribed in section 8‑455.

11. "Delinquency hearing" means a proceeding in the juvenile court to determine whether a juvenile has committed a specific delinquent act as set forth in a petition.

12. "Delinquent act" means an act by a juvenile that if committed by an adult would be a criminal offense or a petty offense, a violation of any law of this state, or of another state if the act occurred in that state, or a law of the United States, or a violation of any law that can only be violated by a minor and that has been designated as a delinquent offense, or any ordinance of a city, county or political subdivision of this state defining crime. Delinquent act does not include an offense under section 13‑501, subsection A or B if the offense is filed in adult court. Any juvenile who is prosecuted as an adult or who is remanded for prosecution as an adult shall not be adjudicated as a delinquent juvenile for the same offense.

13. "Delinquent juvenile" means a child who is adjudicated to have committed a delinquent act.

14. "Department" means the department of child safety.

15. "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.

16. "Detention" means the temporary confinement of a juvenile who requires secure care in a physically restricting facility that is completely surrounded by a locked and physically secure barrier with restricted ingress and egress for the protection of the juvenile or the community pending court disposition or as a condition of probation.

17. "Director" means the director of the department.

18. "Health professional" has the same meaning prescribed in section 32‑3201.

19. "Incorrigible child" means a child who:

(a) Is adjudicated as a child who refuses to obey the reasonable and proper orders or directions of a parent, guardian or custodian and who is beyond the control of that person.

(b) Is habitually truant from school as defined in section 15‑803, subsection C.

(d) Habitually behaves in such a manner as to injure or endanger the morals or health of self or others.

(e) Commits any act constituting an offense that can only be committed by a minor and that is not designated as a delinquent act.

(f) Fails to obey any lawful order of a court of competent jurisdiction given in a noncriminal action.

20. "Independent living program" includes a residential program with supervision of less than twenty‑four hours a day.

21. "Juvenile court" means the juvenile division of the superior court when exercising its jurisdiction over children in any proceeding relating to delinquency, dependency or incorrigibility.

22. "Law enforcement officer" means a peace officer, sheriff, deputy sheriff, municipal police officer or constable.

23. "Medical director of a mental health agency" means a psychiatrist, or licensed physician experienced in psychiatric matters, who is designated in writing by the governing body of the agency as the person in charge of the medical services of the agency, or a psychiatrist designated by the governing body to act for the director. The term includes the superintendent of the state hospital.

24. "Mental health agency" means any private or public facility that is licensed by this state as a mental health treatment agency, a psychiatric hospital, a psychiatric unit of a general hospital or a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children and that uses secure settings or mechanical restraints.

25. "Neglect" or "neglected" means:

(a) The inability or unwillingness of a parent, guardian or custodian of a child to provide that child with supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care if that inability or unwillingness causes unreasonable risk of harm to the child's health or welfare, except if the inability of a parent, guardian or custodian to provide services to meet the needs of a child with a disability or chronic illness is solely the result of the unavailability of reasonable services.

(b) Permitting a child to enter or remain in any structure or vehicle in which volatile, toxic or flammable chemicals are found or equipment is possessed by any person for the purposes of manufacturing a dangerous drug as defined in section 13-3401.

(c) A determination by a health professional that a newborn infant was exposed prenatally to a drug or substance listed in section 13-3401 and that this exposure was not the result of a medical treatment administered to the mother or the newborn infant by a health professional. This subdivision does not expand a health professional's duty to report neglect based on prenatal exposure to a drug or substance listed in section 13‑3401 beyond the requirements prescribed pursuant to section 13‑3620, subsection E. The determination by the health professional shall be based on one or more of the following:

(i) Clinical indicators in the prenatal period including maternal and newborn presentation.

(ii) History of substance use or abuse.

(iii) Medical history.

(iv) Results of a toxicology or other laboratory test on the mother or the newborn infant.

(d) Diagnosis by a health professional of an infant under one year of age with clinical findings consistent with fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects.

(e) Deliberate exposure of a child by a parent, guardian or custodian to sexual conduct as defined in section 13‑3551 or to sexual contact, oral sexual contact or sexual intercourse as defined in section 13-1401, bestiality as prescribed in section 13‑1411 or explicit sexual materials as defined in section 13‑3507.

(f) Any of the following acts committed by the child's parent, guardian or custodian with reckless disregard as to whether the child is physically present:

(i) Sexual contact as defined in section 13‑1401.

(ii) Oral sexual contact as defined in section 13‑1401.

(iii) Sexual intercourse as defined in section 13‑1401.

(iv) Bestiality as prescribed in section 13‑1411.

26. "Newborn infant" means a child who is under thirty days of age.

27. "Petition" means a written statement of the essential facts that allege delinquency, incorrigibility or dependency.

28. "Prevention" means the creation of conditions, opportunities and experiences that encourage and develop healthy, self‑sufficient children and that occur before the onset of problems.

29. "Protective supervision" means supervision that is ordered by the juvenile court of children who are found to be dependent or incorrigible.

30. "Qualified young adult" means a former dependent child who is at least eighteen years of age and not over twenty‑one years of age, who meets the criteria for an extended foster care program pursuant to section 8‑521.02 and who signs a voluntary agreement to participate in the program.

30. 31. "Referral" means a report that is submitted to the juvenile court and that alleges that a child is dependent or incorrigible or that a juvenile has committed a delinquent or criminal act.

31. 32. "Secure care" means confinement in a facility that is completely surrounded by a locked and physically secure barrier with restricted ingress and egress.

32. 33. "Serious emotional injury" means an injury that is diagnosed by a medical doctor or a psychologist and that does any one or a combination of the following:

(a) Seriously impairs mental faculties.

(b) Causes serious anxiety, depression, withdrawal or social dysfunction behavior to the extent that the child suffers dysfunction that requires treatment.

(c) Is the result of sexual abuse pursuant to section 13‑1404, sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to section 13‑1405, sexual assault pursuant to section 13‑1406, molestation of a child pursuant to section 13‑1410, child sex trafficking pursuant to section 13‑3212, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3552, sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3553 or incest pursuant to section 13‑3608.

33. 34. "Serious physical injury" means an injury that is diagnosed by a medical doctor and that does any one or a combination of the following:

(a) Creates a reasonable risk of death.

(b) Causes serious or permanent disfigurement.

(d) Causes serious impairment of health.

(e) Causes the loss or protracted impairment of an organ or limb.

(f) Is the result of sexual abuse pursuant to section 13‑1404, sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to section 13‑1405, sexual assault pursuant to section 13‑1406, molestation of a child pursuant to section 13‑1410, child sex trafficking pursuant to section 13‑3212, commercial sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3552, sexual exploitation of a minor pursuant to section 13‑3553 or incest pursuant to section 13‑3608.

34. 35. "Shelter care" means the temporary care of a child in any public or private facility or home that is licensed by this state and that offers a physically nonsecure environment that is characterized by the absence of physically restricting construction or hardware and that provides the child access to the surrounding community.

36. "Young adult administrative review" means an administrative review of a voluntary extended foster care case plan with the qualified young adult, the department's case specialist or designee, an independent party who is not responsible for the case management of or the delivery of services to the qualified young adult and any other individual the young adult invites.END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 8-202, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE8-202. Jurisdiction of juvenile court

A. The juvenile court has original jurisdiction over all delinquency proceedings brought under the authority of this title.

B. The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all proceedings brought under the authority of this title except for delinquency proceedings.

C. The juvenile court may consolidate any matter, except that the juvenile court shall not consolidate any of the following:

1. A criminal proceeding that is filed in another division of superior court and that involves a child who is subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

2. A delinquency proceeding with any other proceeding that does not involve delinquency, unless the juvenile delinquency adjudication proceeding is not heard at the same time or in the same hearing as a nondelinquency proceeding.

D. The juvenile court has jurisdiction of proceedings to:

1. Obtain judicial consent to the marriage, employment or enlistment in the armed services of a child, if consent is required by law.

2. In an action in which parental rights are terminated pursuant to chapter 4, article 5 or 11 of this title, change the name of a minor child who is the subject of the action. If the minor child who is the subject of the action is twelve years of age or older, the court shall consider the wishes of the child with respect to the name change.

E. The juvenile court has jurisdiction over both civil traffic violations and offenses listed in section 8‑323, subsection B that are committed within the county by persons who are under eighteen years of age unless the presiding judge of the county declines jurisdiction of these cases. The presiding judge of the county may decline jurisdiction of civil traffic violations committed within the county by juveniles if the presiding judge finds that the declination would promote the more efficient use of limited judicial and law enforcement resources located within the county. If the presiding judge declines jurisdiction, juvenile civil traffic violations shall be processed, heard and disposed of in the same manner and with the same penalties as adult civil traffic violations.

F. The orders of the juvenile court under the authority of this chapter or chapter 3 or 4 of this title take precedence over any order of any other court of this state except the court of appeals and the supreme court to the extent that they are inconsistent with orders of other courts.

G. Except as provided in subsection H of this section, jurisdiction of a child that is obtained by the juvenile court in a proceeding under this chapter or chapter 3 or 4 of this title shall be retained by it, for the purposes of implementing the orders made and filed in that proceeding, until the child becomes eighteen years of age, unless terminated by order of the court before the child's eighteenth birthday.

H. If the state files a notice of intent to retain jurisdiction when proceedings are commenced pursuant to section 8‑301, paragraph 1 or 2, the court shall retain jurisdiction over a juvenile who is at least seventeen years of age and who has been adjudicated a delinquent juvenile until the juvenile reaches nineteen years of age, unless before the juvenile's nineteenth birthday either:

1. Jurisdiction is terminated by order of the court.

2. The juvenile is discharged from the jurisdiction of the department of juvenile corrections pursuant to section 41‑2820.

I. Persons who are under eighteen years of age shall be prosecuted in the same manner as adults if either:

1. The juvenile court transfers jurisdiction pursuant to section 8‑327.

2. The juvenile is charged as an adult with an offense listed in section 13‑501.

J. The juvenile court has jurisdiction to make the initial determination PRescribed in section 8‑829 whether the voluntary participation of a qualified young adult in an extended foster care program pursuant to section 8‑521.02 is in the young adult's best interests. END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Title 8, chapter 4, article 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 8-521.02, to read:

START_STATUTE8-521.02. Extended foster care program; requirements

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 became eighteen years of age.

2. Be eighteen, nineteen or twenty years of age and be one or more of the following:

(a) Completing secondary education or an educational program leading to an equivalent credential or be enrolled in an institution that provides postsecondary or vocational education.

(b) Employed at least eighty hours a month.

(d) Be unable to be a full‑time student or to be employed because of a documented medical condition.

3. Sign a voluntary extended foster care agreement with the department on or after the qualified Young adult's eighteenth birthday and before the young adult's twenty‑first birthday.

B. The department shall provide a progress report every six months to the young adult administrative review panel for each qualified young adult who participates in the extended foster care program.

C. The young adult administrative review panel shall review, at least once every six months, the qualified young adult's voluntary extended foster care case plan, including the services and supports provided and needed to assist the young adult in the young adult's successful transition to adulthood.

D. The department shall develop and coordinate educational case management plans for a qualified young adult participating in the extended foster care program to assist the qualified young adult to accomplish the following:

1. Graduate from high school.

2. Pass the statewide assessment to measure pupil achievement adopted pursuant to section 15‑741.

3. Apply for postsecondary education financial assistance.

4. Apply for postsecondary education.

5. Complete postsecondary education classes. END_STATUTE

Sec. 5. Section 8-829, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE8-829. Judicial determinations; timing; documentation

A. If a child has been removed from the child's home, the court shall make protecting the child from abuse or neglect the first priority and shall make the following determinations within the following time periods:

1. In the court's first order that sanctions the removal, whether continuation of the child's residence in the home would be contrary to the welfare of the child. This order may be the temporary order that the court issues on the filing of a dependency petition.

2. At the preliminary protective hearing, whether the department made attempts to identify and assess placement with the child's grandparent or another member of the child's extended family including a person who has a significant relationship with the child.

3. Within sixty days after the child is removed from the child's home, whether reasonable efforts have been made to prevent removal of the child or whether it was reasonable to make no efforts to prevent removal of the child.

4. If the child is not placed with a grandparent or another member of the child's extended family including a person who has a significant relationship with the child within sixty days after the child is removed from the child's home, why such placement is not in the best interests of the child. The petitioner has the burden of presenting evidence that such placement is not in the child's best interests at the first court hearing thereafter.

5. Within twelve months after the child is removed from the child's home and once every twelve months thereafter, whether reasonable efforts have been made to finalize the existing permanency plan.

6. If the child is under three years of age, within six months after the child is removed from the child's home, whether reasonable efforts have been made to provide reunification services to the parent and whether a parent of a child who is under three years of age has substantially neglected or wilfully refused to participate in reunification services offered by the department.

B. Within one hundred twenty days after the department submits a qualified young adult's signed voluntary agreement to participate in an extended foster care program pursuant to section 8‑521.02, the juvenile court shall determine whether the participation is in the qualified young adult's best interest.

B. C. The court shall make each determination described in subsection A or B on a case‑by‑case basis and shall set forth in its written order the specific factual basis for each determination. In making its determination, the court shall consider documentation that is reasonably available at the time of the determination. END_STATUTE