Opinion ID: 1251980
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: appealability of dismissal of the dependency proceedings in yavapai county

Text: The Court of Appeals dismissed the Collinses' appeal of the juvenile court's order dismissing the dependency proceeding on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the appeal. The Court of Appeals said: The trial court's final order, which was subject to appeal, was its January 26, 1981 order finding the children dependent and placing custody with the Arizona Department of Economic Security. No appeal was taken from this order and the subsequent orders were special orders entered after final judgment which are not subject to review by appeal. See In The Matter of the Appeal in Pima County Juvenile Action No. J-35316, 24 Ariz. App. 384, 539 P.2d 188 (1975). Ariz.R.P.Juv.Ct. 24(a) provides that [a]ny aggrieved party may appeal from a final order of the juvenile court to the Court of Appeals. What constitutes a final order in dependency proceedings is a question of first impression in this state. [1] We find that the juvenile court's order dismissing the dependency proceeding in Yavapai County was a final order. Though the facts of In re Appeal in Pima County, Juvenile Action No. J-35316, 24 Ariz. App. 384, 539 P.2d 188 (1975), relied upon by the Court of Appeals, make it distinguishable from the instant case [2] we find it necessary to examine and overrule Juvenile Action No. J-35316 to prevent further reliance on it. Juvenile Action No. J-35316 involved appeal of a juvenile court order of January 10, 1975. That order affirmed an order of February 28, 1973 declaring appellant's minor children dependent and granting their custody to the DES and physical care to a married stepsister. Appellant, the children's natural mother, had sought to regain parental control. The trial court denied her request and she sought review in the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that she lacked the right to appeal because the January order was a special order entered after judgment rather than a final order. It said the only final order was the order of February 28, 1973, presumably because that order first established the arrangement at issue. In treating the February 1973 order as the only final, and therefore appealable, order, the Court of Appeals applied a very narrow, technical conception of what constitutes a final order. We find that conception inappropriate in cases involving the important and fundamental right to raise one's children. Juvenile Action No. S-933, supra; In re Appeal in Pima County, Juvenile Action No. S-111, 25 Ariz. App. 380, 543 P.2d 809 (1975), review denied, 113 Ariz. 247, 550 P.2d 625 (1976). From a practical perspective, each periodic review of a dependency determination is a new determination of whether or not a child is dependent. Therefore, orders declaring children dependent and orders reaffirming findings that children are dependent are final orders subject to appeal by aggrieved parties. A parent denied and redenied control over his or her children must have the right to appeal the initial and subsequent denials. This does not mean that he or she shall be able to challenge a custodial arrangement every week or every month. What it means is that an aggrieved party may appeal an order issued pursuant to the juvenile court's periodic review of a determination of dependency or of a custodial arrangement, see A.R.S. § 8-515(C), (D). Though this may impose an additional burden on our Court of Appeals, it is a burden the Court of Appeals must bear in light of the fundamental right at stake. Because the Court of Appeals failed to recognize this in Juvenile Action No. J-35316, it is overruled. In the instant case, the Court of Appeals once again assumed that dependency proceedings can have one and only one final order and that the January 26, 1981 order declaring the Grilz children dependent pursuant to A.R.S. § 8-201(11) was the final order. We have no doubt that the January 26 order was final. See In re Appeal in Pima County, Juvenile Action No. J-46735 v. Howard, 112 Ariz. 170, 540 P.2d 642 (1975). This is true notwithstanding the fact that a determination of dependency does not dispose of all matters correlative to that determination, such as assignment of legal custody. See Ariz. R.P.Juv.Ct. 16(e) [3] and A.R.S. § 8-241(A)(1). [4] A finding of dependency disposes of the issue of whether a child is dependent and simultaneously triggers a custody proceeding. It is, therefore, only the first step in an effort to provide for minor children who are not being adequately cared for. Whether determination of dependency and the concommitant award of custody are considered two separate actions  a dependency proceeding to determine if a child is dependent, and a custody proceeding triggered thereby  or two parts of a single action is unimportant. We will not spend our time making technical distinctions. What is important is the practical reality that an order declaring a child dependent affects a fundamental right and an order dismissing a pending award of child custody precludes further action in the dismissing court such that the party is effectively put out of court. An order that disposes of an issue such that it conclusively defines the rights and/or duties of a party in a dependency proceeding in the juvenile court of this state, such as an order declaring a child or children dependent and an order dismissing a dependency proceeding in toto, is a final order subject to appeal by an aggrieved party. [5] The Court of Appeals' order dismissing appellants' appeal of the juvenile court's order dismissing the Grilz children's dependency proceedings for lack of jurisdiction is vacated. We will now review the merits of that appeal.