2005 Vermont Code - § 5531. — Permanency hearing

§ 5531. Permanency hearing

(a) Unless otherwise specified therein an order under the authority of this chapter transferring legal custody, or guardianship over the person or residual parental rights and responsibilities of a child to an individual, agency, or institution shall be for an indeterminate period. Every order transferring legal custody, guardianship or residual parental rights over the person shall be reviewed at a permanency hearing that shall be held every 12 months with the first hearing to be held after the earlier of the following dates:

(1) the date of the order entered under section 5526 of this title; or

(2) 60 days after the date the custody of the child was initially transferred.

At the request of any party or on the court's own motion, the initial and any subsequent permanency hearings may be held every three months for children who were younger than three years of age at the time of the order and every six months for children who were between the ages of three and six years at the time of the order. Upon request or motion for review of a younger sibling, the court shall review the order of disposition of all siblings in the custody of the commissioner. In no event shall any such order remain in force or effect beyond the minority of the child.

(b) Any person to whom legal custody or guardianship over the person has been transferred shall thereafter file a notice of review with the court before whom such proceeding was held, the state's attorney having jurisdiction, and all parties to the proceeding, and, in addition, shall file with such court and such state's attorney a report and recommendation. Service upon a party of such notice shall be effected by mailing a copy thereof to his or her last known address. Failure to give such notice or to review an order shall not terminate the original order or limit the court's jurisdiction. The foster parents, if any, of the child and any pre-adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child shall be provided notice of and an opportunity to be heard at any permanency hearing held with respect to the child. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as affording such person party status in the proceeding.

(c) Within 30 days of filing of the notice of review, a permanency hearing shall be held for the purpose of considering the review of the order of disposition and shall be held as a hearing on a petition under this chapter, except that in such a hearing, all evidence helpful in determining the questions presented, including oral and written reports, may be admitted and relied upon to the extent of its probative value, even though not competent in a hearing on a petition. The hearing shall be held by the juvenile court or by an administrative body appointed or approved by the court. The administrative body may consist of one but not more than three persons. No person employed by the department of social and rehabilitation services shall be a member of the administrative body.

(d) The permanency hearing held under subsection (c) of this section shall determine the permanency plan for the child that includes whether and, if applicable, when:

(1) the child will be returned to the parents;

(2) the child will be released for adoption;

(3) the child will be referred for legal guardianship; or

(4) the child will remain in the same or be placed in another planned permanent living arrangement because the commissioner has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the court a compelling reason that it is not in the child's best interests to return home, to have residual parental rights terminated and be released for adoption or placed with a fit and willing relative or legal guardian.

(e) In the event that the administrative body determines that the existing order should be altered, it shall submit its recommendation to the juvenile court for its consideration. In the event that the administrative body determines that the existing order should not be altered, its determination shall be binding unless any party requests review by the court within ten days of receipt of the determination. A copy of the determination shall be sent to each party and to the juvenile court. The court, on its own initiative or on the request of any party, shall conduct a review de novo within thirty days of receipt of the determination.

(f)(1) In cases involving a child who has been removed from the home, upon the filing of a petition for a finding of reasonable efforts and a report or affidavit by the department for children and families with notice to all parties, the court shall hold a hearing within 30 days of the filing of the petition to determine, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the department for children and families has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan for the child that is in effect at the time of the hearing. Reasonable efforts to finalize a permanency plan may consist of:

(A) reasonable efforts to reunify the child and family following the child's removal from the home, where the permanency plan for the child is reunification; or

(B) reasonable efforts to arrange and finalize an alternate permanent living arrangement for the child, in cases where the permanency plan for the child does not include reunification.

(2) The hearing may be consolidated with or separate from a permanency hearing. (1967, No. 304, (Adj. Sess.), § 28; amended 1969, No. 289 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1973, No. 57; 1981, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § 9, eff. July 17, 1981; 1981, No. 243 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1991, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1995, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 6; 1997, No. 139 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2005, No. 21, § 3.)