At this hearing the court shall determine whether the allegations of the dependency petition have been sustained by a preponderance of the evidence. If the court is of the opinion that the allegations are sustained by clear and convincing evidence, it may enter an order so stating. A party may call any person as a witness. A party shall have the right to examine or cross-examine all witnesses. However, the child and the parents, caregivers, or legal custodians of the child may be examined separately and apart from each other.
All parties have the right to be present at all hearings.
A party may appear in person or, at the discretion of the court for good cause shown, by an audio or audiovisual device. No party shall be excluded from any hearing unless so ordered by the court for disruptive behavior or as provided by law. If a person appears for the arraignment hearing and the court orders that person to personally appear at the adjudicatory hearing for dependency, stating the date, time, and place of the adjudicatory hearing, then that person's failure to appear for the scheduled adjudicatory hearing constitutes consent to a dependency adjudication. When 2 or more children are alleged to be dependent children, the hearing may be held simultaneously when the several children involved are related to each other or involved in the same case, unless the court orders separate hearings. In all proceedings, if at the close of the evidence for the petitioner the court is of the opinion that the evidence is insufficient to warrant a finding of dependency, it may, and on the motion of any party shall, enter an order dismissing the petition for insufficiency of the evidence.