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DHS Support Centers > Law > Services > Court Hearings > Permanency Hearing
Permanency Hearing
A permanency hearing is held for the purpose of:
- Determining or reviewing the permanency plan for the child
- Determining the date by which the permanency goal for the child will be achieved
- Determining whether the placement continues to best suited to safety, protection and physical, mental and moral welfare of the child
There are two kinds of permanency hearings:
- The first type of permanency hearing is the same as the hearing that was previously called a “review” hearing. After a child has been adjudicated dependent, a judge must hold a permanency hearing. Subsequent permanency hearings must be scheduled at least once every 6 months until the child is either returned home or until the child’s case is discharged from court.
- The second type of permanency hearing is held after DHS or the child advocate files a petition alleging that aggravated circumstances exist regarding a child who has been adjudicated dependent. If the judge finds that aggravated circumstances exist, the judge must also determine whether DHS has to make reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need for removing the child from the home or to preserve and reunify the family.
The judge must also hold a permanency hearing within 30 days after an adjudicatory hearing in which the judge determined that aggravated circumstances existed and that DHS did not have to make reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the home, or to preserve and reunify the family.
The judge must make the following decisions at a permanency hearing:
- Determine the continuing necessity for and appropriateness of the placement
- Determine the appropriateness, feasibility and extent of compliance with the permanency plan developed for the child
- Determine the extent or progress made toward alleviating the circumstances which necessitated the original placement
- Determine the appropriateness and feasibility of the current placement goal for the child
- Project a likely date by which the goal will be achieved
- Determine whether the child is safe
- Determine, if the child has been placed outside of Pennsylvania, whether the placement continues to be best suited to the protection and physical, mental and moral welfare of the child
- Determine the services needed to assist a child who is 16 years old to make the transition to independent living
If the child has been in placement for at least 15 out of the last 22 months or the judge has determined that aggravated circumstances exist and DHS does not have to make reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the home or to preserve or reunify the family, the judge must determine whether DHS has identified, recruited, processed and approved a qualified family to adopt the child.
If DHS has not filed or joined a termination of parental rights petition, DHS must prove that one of the following three exceptions apply:
- the child is being cared for by a relative best suited to the welfare of the child
- DHS has documented a compelling for determining that filing a petition to terminate parental rights would not serve the needs and the welfare of the child
- the child’s parents, legal guardian, or legal custodian have not received services that are necessary to safely return the child home within the time frames designated in the permanency plan
The DHS and/or provider social worker must be prepared to address all of these issues at the permanency hearing. |
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