The first Hearing that will take place is called a Detention Hearing. At this Hearing you will meet with your Court Social Worker. At this Hearing a document called a petition will be given to the judge. The petition is a document that gives the reasons why your child was taken away from your home. You will also be given a copy of this petition. The Social Worker will ask the judge to keep your child in foster care based on their investigation and information referenced in the petition. If you disagree to the allegations, you may ask the judge to release your child to you. Then the judge will decide if your child can or cannot be returned to you.
A Jurisdictional Hearing may be set for your case. At the Jurisdictional hearing, the judge may appoint an attorney to represent your child. This is the hearing where the judge will decide if the information or allegations in the petition are true. If the judge decides that the allegations mentioned in the petition are not true, your child will be returned to you. If the judge decides that the allegations are true, a Dispositional Hearing will be set.
During the Dispositional Hearing, the judge will decide where your child should live. This will be based on the Social Worker's reports and other evidence based on your case. You will be able to get copies of all the documents before the hearing takes place. This allows you time to respond to the reports for at the hearing. The reports could recommend that your child be returned to you and that you attend a Family Maintenance Service Plan, where a Social Worker continues to work with you and your family.
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