§ 739 — Release, pre-dispositional placement or referral after filing of petition and prior to order of disposition

§ 739. Release, pre-dispositional placement or referral after filing\nof petition and prior to order of disposition. (a) After the filing of a\npetition under section seven hundred thirty-two of this part, the court\nin its discretion may release the respondent or direct his or her\npre-dispositional placement. If the respondent may be a sexually\nexploited child as defined in subdivision one of section four hundred\nforty-seven-a of the social services law, the court may direct the\nrespondent to an available short-term safe house as an alternative to\nplacement. However, the court shall not direct pre-dispositional\nplacement unless it finds and states the facts and reasons for so\nfinding that unless the respondent is placed there is a substantial\nprobability that the respondent will not appear in court on the return\ndate and all available alternatives to such placement have been\nexhausted.\n (b) Unless the respondent waives a determination that probable cause\nexists to believe that he is a person in need of supervision, no\npre-dispositional placement under this section may last more than three\ndays (i) unless the court finds, pursuant to the evidentiary standards\napplicable to a hearing on a felony complaint in a criminal court, that\nsuch probable cause exists, or (ii) unless special circumstances exist,\nin which cases such detention may be extended not more than an\nadditional three days exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and public\nholidays.\n (c) Upon a finding of facts and reasons which support a detention\norder pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, the court shall also\ndetermine and state in any order directing detention:\n (i) whether continuation of the respondent in the respondent's home\nwould be contrary to the best interests of the respondent based upon,\nand limited to, the facts and circumstance available to the court at the\ntime of the court's determination in accordance with this section; and\n (ii) where appropriate, whether reasonable efforts were made prior to\nthe date of the court order directing pre-dispositional placement in\naccordance with this section, to prevent or eliminate the need for\nremoval of the respondent from his or her home or, if the respondent had\nbeen removed from his or her home prior to the court appearance pursuant\nto this section, where appropriate, whether reasonable efforts were made\nto make it possible for the respondent to safely return home.\n