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Dependency Court

Walk Through the Maze: The Arizona Dependency Process, Dawn Williams, CWLS (65 mins)
This session provides a step by step overview of the Dependency Process, including its timelines, purpose, and major provisions. Dawn will take the participants from the beginning when a report is made to petition filing to hearings to placement and all the steps in between.

Grounds: Termination of Parental Rights, Dawn Williams, CWLS, Unit Chief Counsel for CFPD Appeals (63 mins)
This session explores the grounds for termination of parental rights and best interests, including standards of proof, elements of each ground, and case-law examples.

Appeals Process 101: Introduction, Dawn Williams, CWLS (65 mins)
A parent may appeal a finding of dependency or severance. An appeal is a request by the moving party to the Court of Appeals to find that an error of law or procedure occurred during the case and therefore the trial court must reconsider its decision. Dawn Williams will discuss the process and steps needed for a successful appeal.

Appeals Process 201:Special Actions, Petitions for Review, and Oral Argument, Dawn Williams, CWLS (63 mins)
This webinar will go beyond actions in the Court of Appeals to explore when, why, and how to file a special action from a juvenile court order (including getting an appellate stay of the order); when, why, and how to petition for review of an appellate decision to the Arizona Supreme Court; and some general tips and tricks for oral advocacy in both proceedings.

Best for Babies: The Substance Using/Abusing Mother, Susan M. Stephens, MD (85 mins)
The attendees of this presentation include judicial officers, court personnel, CASA program coordinators and volunteers, GAL, private attorneys for children and parents, DCS staff, behavioral health providers, foster parents and licensing agencies. The program addresses the needs and care of the youngest population in the child welfare system. The presentation discusses best practices and topics such as concurrent planning, visitation, substance-exposed newborns and medically assisted treatment for opioid addiction.

Caseflow Management, Rob Hofmann, Esq. (45 mins)
Caseflow Management has been prepared for judges to assist them in developing and improving their caseflow systems. Caseflow management is the supervision or management of the time and events necessary to move a case from initiation to disposition or adjudication. You will learn: what caseflow management is; why caseflow management is important; what a caseflow management plan should cover; and how to implement a caseflow management plan.

Court Ordered Removals, David Withey, Esq. (33 mins)
This session will discuss process of Senate Bill 1395 and "how to do" the new Court Authorized Removals legislation.

Fostering Connections to Success, Heidi Redlich Epstein, JD, MSW and Kristin Kelly, JD (145 mins)
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act is intended to help thousands of children by promoting family connections, improving education and health care outcomes, offering assistance to tribes and extending federal support for foster youth to age 21. This session will give an overview of the federal law, explain how it changes current law and most importantly focus on what attorneys and courts can do to help implement the law. Specific attention to the education stability, kinship, and older youth provisions will be addressed. Participants will receive a number of tools and resources to assist with case level and system level reform. Strategies from across the country will be highlighted.

How Would Franz Kafka View Dependency Proceedings in Arizona?, Honorable Bruce R. Cohen and Gabe Goltz (90 mins)
Confusing. Oppressive. Nightmarish. These are the very words that make up the definition of "Kafkaesque." And though the worlds Kafka created in his stories can seem surreal, perhaps they have something important to say to those of us living and working in the real world. Using a film-version of Franz Kafka's famous short story The Trial, the faculty will help participants gain a greater sympathy for and understanding of the perspective of the families who are in Arizona's dependency process. Like the protagonist in The Trial, it's common for families in Arizona's dependency process to feel lost and despondent. Faculty will help participants remain mindful of these common reactions and help create an environment where the perspectives of families are given greater priority in our everyday work.

Civility in Court Room: Raising the Bar of Professionalism, Hon. Rick Williams, Hon. Megan McCoy (59 mins)
Civil behavior is a core element of attorney, judicial or any professionalism. As the guardians of the Rule of Law that defines the American social and political fabric, all parties in the courtroom should embody civility in all they do. Judges and Lawyers serve as officers of the legal system and public citizens having special responsibility for the quality of justice. To fulfill these overarching and overlapping roles, lawyers must make civility their professional standard and ideal.