Orders Regarding Parents

DFPS must work jointly with a child’s parents to develop a service and visitation plan.

For this reason, and because the adversary hearing is conducted early in the legal case, the caseworker must recommend only that the court order the services needed for the parents to address the safety threats that resulted in the child entering substitute care. The caseworker must not recommend services beyond that, as the caseworker needs time to develop a service plan jointly with the parents.

The caseworker must recommend services focusing on interventions that either:

  •   assess the parents’ protective capacities; or

  •   address diminished protective capacities that prevent the parents from safely parenting the child in the home.

If additional concerns arise:

  •   the caseworker must include services to address diminished protective capacities in the family’s service plan and in future court hearings; and

  •   DFPS must recommend the services be entered as an order of the court.

See 5520 The Family’s Service and Visitation Plans: Filing and Review Requirements.

Orders in General

If the court finds that the standard for naming DFPS as temporary managing conservator (TMC) is met at the adversary hearing, the court may issue appropriate orders, including orders regarding services to address the parents’ protective capacities, as described here.

The court may also issue other orders pertaining to the child and basic issues at the beginning of the case, such as the following:

  •   Child support to be paid to DFPS by the parents

      (Although child support is not a safety driven issue, the law requires that child support always be requested. If a parent is truly indigent, the caseworker requests that the parent support the child in some way, such as by providing clothing.);

  •   Visitation by parents (see 5431.5 Temporary Visitation Schedule)

  •   Visitation by siblings

  •   Visitation by relatives or others who are important to the child

  •   Home assessments conducted on persons requesting that the child be placed with them

  •   Medical and psychological evaluations of the child, followed by the services indicated as appropriate by the evaluations

  •   Appointment of a medical consenter, if one has not already been appointed

  •   Restrictions on the type of placement required to meet a child’s individual needs

  •   Assessments of the parents, to aid in development of the family’s case plan

  •   Temporary injunctions against other parties; such as, prohibiting removal of the child from the jurisdiction, prohibiting unsupervised visits, and prohibiting discussions with the child regarding testimony in pending criminal action

  •   Appointment of representatives of the child (such as an attorney, a court-appointed special advocate, and a guardian ad litem)

  •   Payment of discovery and litigation expenses for the child’s representation

  •   Submission of the placement resource form (Form 2625 [sic,  broken link] Word Document Child Caregiver Resource) to DFPS, if it has not been previously provided by the parents

For more information on preparing for and participating in the adversary hearing, and additional orders made at an adversary hearing, see the Hearings and Legal Proceedings Resource GuidePDF Document under Preparing for and Participating in the Adversary Hearing: Tips and Information.