§ 1094 — Initial appearance and preliminary proceedings

§ 1094. Initial appearance and preliminary proceedings. (a) At the\ninitial appearance, the court shall:\n (1) appoint an attorney to represent the child in accordance with\nsection two hundred forty-nine of this act, and appoint an attorney to\nrepresent a parent, caretaker or interested adult in accordance with\nparagraph (ix) of subdivision (a) of section two hundred sixty-two of\nthis act, if he or she is financially unable to obtain counsel;\n (2) (i) if any parent, caretaker or interested adult enters an\nappearance, determine whether the child may safely remain in or return\nto his or her home and, if appropriate, order services to assist the\nfamily toward that end; provided however, that such order shall not\ninclude the provision of any service or assistance to the child and his\nor her family which is not authorized or required to be made available\npursuant to the comprehensive annual services program plan then in\neffect;\n (ii) determine whether temporary care is necessary to avoid risk to\nthe child's life or health and whether it would be contrary to the\nwelfare of the child to continue in, or return to his or her own home,\nand, if so, whether the child should be placed in the temporary care and\ncustody of a relative or other suitable person or in the temporary care\nand custody of the commissioner of social services;\n (iii) upon a determination that the child should be temporarily\nplaced:\n (A) direct the petitioner to investigate whether there are any\nparents, caretakers or interested adults not named in the petition or\nany other relatives or other suitable persons with whom the child may\nsafely reside and, if so, direct the child to reside temporarily in\ntheir care; and\n (B) if a relative or other suitable person seeks approval to care for\nthe child as a foster parent, direct the petitioner to commence an\ninvestigation into the home of such relative and thereafter approve such\nrelative or other suitable person, if qualified, as a foster parent;\nprovided, however, that if such home is found to be unqualified for\napproval, the petitioner shall report such fact to the court forthwith\nand, in the case of a relative who seeks approval to care for the child\nas a foster parent, the relative may proceed in accordance with section\none thousand twenty-eight-a of this act.\n (3) set a date certain for the fact finding and disposition hearing\npursuant to section one thousand ninety-five of this article and, if the\nchild is temporarily placed, set a date certain for the initial\npermanency hearing pursuant to paragraph two of subdivision (a) of\nsection one thousand eighty-nine of this act. The date certain for the\ninitial permanency hearing shall be no later than eight months from the\ndate the social services official accepted care of the child;\n (4) determine whether reasonable efforts were made prior to the\nplacement of the child into foster care to prevent or eliminate the need\nfor removal of the child from his or her home, and if such efforts were\nnot made whether the lack of such efforts were appropriate under the\ncircumstances; determine, where appropriate, if reasonable efforts were\nmade to make it possible for the child to remain in or return safely\nhome; and\n (5) include the findings made pursuant to paragraphs one through four\nof this subdivision in a written order.\n (b) (1) Any parent or caretaker, or interested adult from whose care\nthe child has been removed, or the child's attorney may request a\nhearing to determine whether a child who has been removed from his or\nher home should be returned and, if so, whether services should be\nordered to facilitate such return; provided however, that such order\nshall not include the provision of any service or assistance to the\nchild and his or her family which is not authorized or required to be\nmade available pursuant to the comprehensive annual services program\nplan then in effect. Except for good cause shown, the hearing shall be\nheld within three court days of the request and shall not be adjourned.\nThe court shall grant the application for return of the child unless it\nfinds that the return presents an imminent risk to the child's life or\nhealth. If imminent risk to the child is found, the court may make\norders in accordance with paragraph two of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, including, but not limited to, directions for investigations of\nrelatives or other suitable persons with whom the child may safely\nreside.\n (2) In determining whether temporary removal of the child is necessary\nto avoid imminent risk to the child's life or health, the court shall\nconsider and determine in its order whether continuation in the child's\nhome would be contrary to the best interests of the child and where\nappropriate, whether reasonable efforts were made prior to the date of\nthe hearing to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child\nfrom the home and where appropriate, whether reasonable efforts were\nmade after removal of the child to make it possible for the child to\nsafely return home.\n (3) If the court determines that reasonable efforts to prevent or\neliminate the need for removal of the child from the home were not made\nbut that the lack of such efforts was appropriate under the\ncircumstances, the court order shall include such a finding and the\nbasis for such finding.\n (4) If the court determines that reasonable efforts to allow a child\nto safely return home were not made subsequent to the removal of the\nchild but that the lack of such efforts was appropriate under the\ncircumstances, the court order shall include such a finding and the\nbasis for such finding.\n (c) (1) The court may upon its own motion or the motion of any person,\ndeem a person not named in the petition who has a significant connection\nto the child alleged to be destitute, a party to the proceeding, if such\nperson consents to being added as a party, and such action is\nappropriate under the circumstances.\n (2) If the court deems a person a party pursuant to paragraph (i) of\nthis subdivision and such person is not before the court, the court\nshall cause a copy of the petition and a summons requiring such person\nto appear in court on the return date be served on such person in\naccordance with subdivision (d) of section one thousand ninety-three of\nthis article.\n (d) The court may, if it deems appropriate, appoint counsel for an\ninterested adult or another person named as a party to the proceeding\npursuant to subdivision (c) of this section, if such adult or person is\nfinancially unable to obtain counsel.\n