THE COURTS
Title 237—JUVENILE RULES
PART I. RULES
[ 237 PA. CODE CH. 16 ]
Order Approving the Amendment of Rule 1608 of the Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure; No. 697 Supreme Court Rules Doc.
[46 Pa.B. 3415]
[Saturday, July 2, 2016]
Order Per Curiam
And Now, this 14th day of June, 2016, upon the recommendation of the Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee, the proposal having been submitted without publication pursuant to Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(a)(3):
It Is Ordered pursuant to Article V, Section 10 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania that Rule 1608 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure is revised in the following form.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Pa.R.J.A. No. 103(b), and shall be effective on August 1, 2016.
Annex A
TITLE 237. JUVENILE RULES
PART I. RULES
Subpart B. DEPENDENCY MATTERS
CHAPTER 16. POST-DISPOSITIONAL PROCEDURES
PART B(2). PERMANENCY HEARING Rule 1608. Permanency Hearing.
* * * * * D. Court's findings.
1) Findings at all six-month hearings. At each permanency hearing, the court shall enter its findings and conclusions of law into the record and enter an order pursuant to Rule 1609. On the record in open court, the court shall state:
* * * * * o) whether sufficient steps have been taken by the county agency to ensure the caregiver is exercising the reasonable and prudent parent standard; [and]
p) whether sufficient steps have been taken by the county agency to ensure the child has been provided regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age-appropriate or developmentally-appropriate activities, including:
i) consulting the child in an age-appropriate or developmentally-appropriate manner about the opportunities to participate in activities; and
ii) identifying and addressing any barriers to participation[.]; and
q) whether the visitation schedule for the child with the child's guardian is adequate, unless a finding is made that visitation is contrary to the safety or well-being of the child.
2) Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) for Children Sixteen Years of Age or Older. APPLA shall not be utilized for any child under the age of sixteen. At each permanency hearing for a child who is sixteen years or older and has a permanency goal of APPLA, the following additional considerations, inquiry, and findings shall be made by the court:
* * * * * c) Court's APPLA Findings. After making all the findings of paragraph (D)(1) and before assigning the permanency goal of APPLA, at each subsequent permanency hearing, based upon the considerations and inquiry provided in paragraph (D)(2)(a) & (b) and any other evidence deemed appropriate by the court, the court shall state in open court on the record the following:
i) reasons why APPLA continues to be the best permanency plan for the child; and
ii) compelling reasons why it continues not to be in the best interests of the child to:
A) return home;
B) be placed for adoption;
C) be placed with a legal guardian; [and]
D) be placed with a fit and willing relative[.]; and
iii) the full name of at least one identified supportive adult with whom the child has significant connections.
3) Additional findings for fifteen of last twenty-two months. If the child has been in placement for fifteen of the last twenty-two months, the court may direct the county agency to file a petition to terminate parental rights.
* * * * *
Comment See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 6341, 6351.
Permanency planning is a concept whereby children are not relegated to the limbo of spending their childhood in foster homes, but instead, dedicated effort is made by the court and the county agency to rehabilitate and reunite the family in a reasonable time, and failing in this, to free the child for adoption. In re M.B., 674 A.2d 702, 704 (Pa. Super. [Ct.] 1996) (quoting In re Quick, 559 A.2d 42 (Pa. 1989)).
* * * * * After all the requirements of paragraph (D)(1) and (D)(2)(a) and (b) have been made, the court is to state in open court on the record the specific reasons why APPLA continues to be the best permanency plan for the child [and], the compelling reasons why it continues not to be in the best interests of the child to return home or be placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or with a fit and willing relative, and the full name of at least one identified supportive adult with whom the child has significant connections. See paragraph (D)(2)(c). The standards of this rule make choosing the plan of APPLA difficult to ensure that it is the last alternative available for the child. Additionally, this rule requires the court to state its finding in open court on the record. If the court takes a case under advisement, it is to continue the hearing until it is ready to make these findings. The time requirements of the Rules are to be followed when taking a case under advisement.
* * * * * Official Note: Rule 1608 adopted August 21, 2006, effective February 1, 2007. Amended December 18, 2009, effective immediately. Amended April 21, 2011, effective July 1, 2011. Amended April 29, 2011, effective July 1, 2011. Amended October 21, 2013, effective December 1, 2013. Amended July 13, 2015, effective October 1, 2015. Amended December 9, 2015, effective January 1, 2016. Amended June 14, 2016, effective August 1, 2016.
Committee Explanatory Reports:
* * * * * Final Report explaining the amendments to Rule 1608 published with the Court's Order at 45 Pa.B. 7289 (December 26, 2015).
Final Report explaining the amendments to Rule 1608 published with the Court's Order at 46 Pa.B. 3416 (July 2, 2016).
FINAL REPORT1
Amendment of Pa.R.J.C.P. 1608
On December 9, 2015, the Court amended Juvenile Court Procedural Rule 1608 concerning permanency hearings for children with a permanency plan of another planned permanent living arrangement (''APPLA''), services for independent living, and corresponding definitions, due to new federal requirements of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (''PSTSFA''), (P.L. 113-183), 42 U.S.C. §§ 675 & 675a.
After the rule amendment, the Governor signed the Act of Dec. 28, 2015, P.L. 559, which added to the federal requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 675a(a)(2)(B) to now require that the court ''make findings that the significant connection is identified in the permanency plan or that efforts have been made to identify a supportive adult, if no one is currently identified.'' See 42 Pa.C.S. § 6351(F.1)(5)(iv)(D), as amended.
As presently constructed, Rule 1608 requires the court to consider evidence concerning ''the full name of at least one identified supportive adult with whom the child has significant connections.'' Pa.R.J.C.P. 1608(D)(2)(a)(iii); see also Pa.R.J.C.P. 1149 (Family Finding). However, the rule does not require a finding of identification. Therefore, to conform the rule to the new state legislative requirement, Rule 1608 is amended to add paragraph (D)(2)(c)(iii) to require supportive adult identification as another judicial finding.
Rule 1608 is further amended to require the court at a permanency hearing to address the child's visitation with the guardian. Presently, this is required at the shelter care hearing, adjudicatory hearing, and dispositional hearing, see Pa.R.J.C.P. 1242(E)(7), 1409(C)(2)(b), 1512(D)(1)(k). Rule 1608 mentions visitation, but only in the context of siblings. See Pa.R.J.C.P. 1608(D)(1)(n). Rule 1609 (Permanency Hearing Orders) mentions ''temporary visitation rights of parents,'' but only when the court transfers custody of the child. See Pa.R.J.C.P. 1609(C)(3). Therefore, Rule 1608 is amended to require the court to consider the adequacy of the visitation schedule for the child with the child's guardian.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 16-1123. Filed for public inspection July 1, 2016, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 The Committee's Final Report should not be confused with the official Committee Comments to the rules. Also note that the Supreme Court does not adopt the Committee's Comments or the contents of the Committee's explanatory Final Reports.
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