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Showing posts from August, 2017

Termination and Dependency Matters

  In Georgia, the Juvenile Courts have jurisdiction to hear matters of both Dependency and Termination.  In a Dependency case, the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) or, sometimes, a private individual, alleges that a child is deprived by his or her parents.  There are a myriad of different reasons that Dependency is alleged, but some of the more common ones are incarceration of a parent, alleged neglect or abuse of a child, drug or alcohol abuse by a parent, or a general chronic inability of a parent to care properly for a child.   When dependency actions are filed, whether by the State or by private individuals, the parents have a right to have the matter heard by a judge.  If a judge makes a finding that a child is dependent, then the next step is to determine where the child will reside while the parent works to cure the dependency (i.e. remedy the issues that gave rise to the action).  The Juvenile Court (and DFCS if it is involved) has an obligation to at l