2023 Arizona Revised Statutes › Title 8 - Child Safety › § 8-515.03 - Duties of local foster care review boards

8-515.03.
Duties of local foster care review boards
A. Local foster care review boards shall:
1. Review within six months of placement and at least once every six months thereafter the case of each child who remains in out-of-home placement and who is the subject of a dependency action to determine what efforts have been made by the department and the agency with which the child has been placed to carry out the case plan for the permanent placement of such child. The review period for out-of-home placement includes time that a child is in voluntary placement pursuant to section 8-806. The court and the department shall review a local foster care review board's findings and recommendations at the next scheduled dependency review hearing and the court shall address the board's recommendations on the record. The department shall provide the local foster care review board with written notice within ten business days of the date of the receipt of the recommendation if the department intends to accept or not implement the board's recommendations.
2. Allow a child's parents and grandparents to attend the local foster care review board's review of the case. The parent or grandparent may be accompanied at the review by an advocate of the parent's or grandparent's choice.
3. Review any case assigned by the juvenile court for early review of the case plan within sixty days after the removal of a child from that child's home.
4. Submit to the juvenile court within thirty days following the review its findings and recommendations regarding the efforts and progress made by the department and agency to carry out the case plan,  together with any other recommendations it chooses to make regarding the child. The findings and recommendations shall include the date of the next review. A copy of such findings and recommendations shall be sent to the division or the agency,  if the juvenile court has awarded custody of the child to the agency,  and to such other interested parties as the court may require.
5. Encourage and facilitate the timely return of children to their natural parents or,  if the board finds that one or more of the grounds listed in section 8-533 may exist,  encourage the appropriate agency to initiate such procedures as would make the child eligible for adoption,  followed by a maximum effort by the agency to place the child for adoption.
6. Encourage the department and all agencies involved in placing children in out-of-home placement to exert all possible efforts to make arrangements for permanent plans for children for whom return to natural parents or adoption is determined to be infeasible or impossible.
7. Promote and encourage the department and all agencies involved in placing children in foster care to maximize stability and family continuity for children in foster care by discouraging unnecessary changes in the placement of foster children and by recruiting foster parents who may be suitable and eligible as adoptive parents.
8. Assist the department and agencies in informing natural parents,  foster parents and other interested parties of their rights and responsibilities with respect to any child in out-of-home placement. Natural parents,  foster parents and other interested parties may be involved in the review process when appropriate.
9. Make recommendations to the state board regarding foster care policies and procedures as they relate to the children assigned for their review.
B. The department shall provide to the supreme court direct remote access to all automated case management systems that are used by the department for the supreme court to use in assisting a local foster care review board in performing the board's duties. If information is not available through the department's automated case management systems,  the department shall provide the supreme court with a hard copy of all records kept by the department for the supreme court to use in assisting a local foster care review board in performing the board's duties.