The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) or any person may file a petition in court to determine if a child should be a dependent of the state due to abuse, neglect, abandonment, or because there is no parent or custodian capable of caring for the child.  If the court determines the child is dependent, the court conducts periodic reviews and makes determinations about the child's placement and the progress of the parties, as well as whether supervision should continue.  The court, under certain circumstances, may order the filing of a petition for the termination of parental rights.  If a child has been in out-of-home placement for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the court must order the DCYF to file a petition for termination, absent a good-cause exception.

In dependency proceedings, the DCYF is represented by an assistant attorney general.  Parents, guardians, and legal custodians have the right to counsel and, if indigent, they have the right to have counsel appointed by the court.  The Office of Public Defense (OPD) contracts with attorneys to represent indigent parents, guardians, and legal custodians involved in child dependency and termination of parental rights proceedings.

Historically, whether a court appointed an attorney for a child in a dependency proceeding depended upon the age of the child, the stage of the proceeding, and was, in most cases, a matter of court discretion.  Under state law enacted in 2021 and subject to appropriation, court appointment of counsel for every child in dependency proceedings is required in accordance with a phase-in county-by-county basis over a six-year period as follows:

• at least 3 counties beginning January 1, 2022;
• at least 8 counties beginning January 1, 2023;
• at least 15 counties beginning January 1, 2024;
• at least 20 counties beginning January 1, 2025;
• at least 30 counties beginning January 1, 2026; and
• full statewide implementation by January 1, 2027.

The Statewide Children's Legal Representation Program established within the Office of Civil Legal Aid (OCLA) is responsible for the development of the phase-in schedule, as well as the recruitment, training, and oversight of attorneys providing representation.  The phase-in schedule must prioritize counties that have either no current practice of appointment of attorneys in dependency cases or have a significant prevalence of racial disproportionality or disparities in the number of dependent children compared to the population, or both.

A budget proviso in the 2023-25 Operating Budget bill directed the OCLA to "develop a revised implementation schedule based on a caseload assumption of adding no more than 1,250 new dependency cases to the program each fiscal year for consideration by the governor and the legislature." 

The phase-in schedule for full statewide implementation of the right to appointed counsel for children and youth in dependency proceedings is revised as follows:

• The schedule must not add more than 1,250 cases each fiscal year. 
• Beginning January 1, 2027, the schedule must include representation in at least 36 counties.
• The schedule for full statewide implementation is extended by one year to January 1, 2028.

It is specified that prioritization of certain counties as required by current law must occur to the extent practicable.