Working with Child Deprivation Cases in Georgia's Juvenile Courts

VI

Filing of a Deprivation Petition

A. WHEN MUST THE PETITION BE FILED?

In cases where the juvenile court intake officer has chosen to release the child into the custody of his/her parents, a deprivation petition has to be filed with the court within 30 days of the child's release if DFCS wishes to pursue the case further. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-21(b). If the child has not been released by either the intake officer after the child's removal or the juvenile court judge in the 72-hour hearing, a deprivation petition must be submitted within five days of that hearing. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-21(e). The petition may have already been filed if DFCS has gone directly to the juvenile court judge asking that the child be taken into protective custody. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-26(d).

The filing of the petition starts the time table for scheduling the formal adjudicatory hearing on the deprivation petition's merits. This period is shortened considerably when the child is in detention or shelter care. Under these circumstances, the petition must be filed within five days of the detention hearing and the adjudicatory hearing must be held within ten days after the petition is filed. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-26(a). Therefore, if the child is not released, there is a possible fifteen day wait between the informal detention hearing and the adjudicatory hearing on the petition. If the child has been released to his/her parents, the hearing must be held within sixty days of the filing of the deprivation petition. O.C.G.A. § 15-11-26(a). Thus, if the intake officer or the juvenile court judge determines that the child's detention is not warranted and the child is released to his/her parent(s), there is a potential ninety day wait between the detention hearing and the adjudicatory hearing. In addition, a judge can continue such a proceeding for good cause. URJC, 11.3. As law guardian/CASA, it is likely that the majority of your cases will be those in which a 72 hour detention hearing has been held, the judge has found "probable cause" that deprivation exists, and has ordered a petition to be filed by DFCS within 5 days.