Bill outlines exceptions to rules governing child removal

Arizona child-welfare workers will soon need court approval to remove children from their homes. But there must be exceptions for urgent circumstances, lawmakers decided last year.

Defining those situations can be tricky, as policy makers try to navigate federal court rulings, demands from family-rights supporters and the judgment of child-welfare investigators called to the scene of an abuse or neglect report.

On Wednesday, a state Senate panel unanimously approved language that defines what are called the “exigent circumstances” — when a family situation is so dire that there is no time to get before a judge and obtain a warrant.

Senate Bill 1395 states such circumstances would arise when there is probable cause to believe children would face serious risk to their “life, physical health or mental welfare” in the time it would take to get the situation before a Juvenile Court judge.

And for that to happen, investigators must either conclude that there would be no other less-intrusive option than taking the child, or suspect the child has suffered physical or sexual abuse that requires a diagnosis by specially trained doctors.

The legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, is the fi-

nal piece needed to create a warrant process in Arizona’s Juvenile Courts. Lawmakers have set a July 1 deadline for the system to be in place.

Many lawmakers, reacting to the thousands of children in the foster system, and urged on by stories of children being too hastily removed from their homes, mandated the system last year. Advocates argued that if police need a warrant to search a person’s home, they should have one to remove a child. They also pointed to federal-court rulings that require a warrant.

Over the summer, the state courts established a warrant process for child removals. Requests from child-welfare workers for a court order, also called a “pick-up order,” will be sent electronically from the 15 county Juvenile Courts to a judge located in Maricopa County. That judge will be on duty 24/7.

Advocates of the system say the speed of electronic filing should cut down on the number of removals. Currently, investigators have to file paperwork and physically get before a judge in the county where a neglect or abuse complaint is being checked out in order to obtain a warrant. That can consume valuable time, especially if a situation arises after the 5 p.m. close of court business. So investigators have rarely pursued such warrants, because they haven’t been required.

Attorney DeeAn Gillespie, who represents families in Juvenile Court cases, said the proposed language in the bill is a good start because it recognizes the harm to children when they are unnecessarily removed from their homes.

She said its success hinges on full disclosure by the Department of Child Safety.

“For it to work properly, it depends on the department providing complete and accurate information to the judge,” Gillespie said.

In an interview before the hearing, she suggested lawmakers consider a punishment if DCS staffers fail to give the full picture to a judge, who can only work on the information presented. Parents are not allowed to present arguments at a warrant decision, and must wait three days before making their case.

Lori Ford, who has closely tracked her granddaughter’s case in Juvenile Court, told senators the bill is an improvement from the current system. A warrant system should reduce the number of children removed from their homes, she said, and bring some more accountability on DCS workers.

She also argued a removal should only be allowed in cases of physical or sexual harm, not over concerns of the child’s “mental welfare,” as the bill now allows.

Ford said DCS investigators are not psychologists who can quickly gauge a child’s mental state.

“When you question a child, you better damn well be sure you’ve got it right,” she said. Improper and uninformed questioning can traumatize a child, she said.

With the 6-0 vote, the bill now moves to the Rules Committee. Senate President Steve Yarbrough, RChandler, will decide when and whether to bring it before the full Senate.