As courtrooms are starting to open up more, and many courts are using a hybrid model allowing some participation remotely, the attached sample documents may be a good resource in preparing for Fact Finding and Termination of Parental Rights trials.  

The Child Welfare Committee of the Board of Judicial Administration Court Recovery Task Force created three sample documents (see attached), which have been endorsed by the Task Force:

These documents take you through steps that should be considered prior to conducting a trial and can be modified to meet the needs of your particular court/system.

Also, a great resource was created in June 2020, by a workgroup of the Commission on Children in Foster Care: Resuming Dependency Fact Finding and Termination of Parental Rights Trials in Washington State: Guidelines for Operations during the COVID-19 Pandemic.  This document provides guidance that addresses the following issues:

  • When to move forward with virtual or in-person trials regarding Termination of Parental Rights
  • How to conduct a virtual dependency Fact Finding Trial
  • Developing protocols and training for virtual and in-person hearings to include:
    • Pre-trial process
    • Parent/child participation
    • Attorney-client consultation during trial
    • Exhibits
    • Witnesses
    • Open courtrooms
    • Technical issues

The guidelines also contemplate ongoing coordination among stakeholders impacted by the resumption of dependency trials, including but not limited to, judicial officers, courthouse staff, agency attorneys, parent attorneys, child attorneys, court appointed special advocates, child advocates, social workers, parent allies, tribes, etc.  Courts should also maintain open communication with their local health departments and consider sharing their plans and trainings to resume in-person dependency trials.  The guidance document can be found here: http://www.courts.wa.gov/content/publicUpload/COVID19%20Response/Resuming%20Dependency%20Fact%20Finding%20070220.pdf

The Child Welfare Committee of the Court Recovery Task Force will review and update the guidance document and include the new sample documents.  In the meantime, we wanted to provide these documents for your use now.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, concerns, or issues you would like to see addressed in the next guidance revision.

Thanks,
Cindy Bricker
Dependency Court Recovery Analyst  |  Family & Youth Justice Programs
Administrative Office of the Courts
Cindy.Bricker@courts.wa.gov
www.courts.wa.gov

 

 

New Resources for Dependency Fact Finding and TPR Trials