Background
Mother asked longtime Arizona friends to care for A.N. after her 2024 Colorado arrest. DCS later initiated a dependency case, and the juvenile court ordered at least four hours of supervised virtual visitation each week while Mother was incarcerated.
Mother was extradited to Florida to serve a 2.5-year sentence for violating probation on a felony grand-theft conviction. She repeatedly requested video visitation, including identifying the prison’s system and cost, but DCS never arranged it. The juvenile court nonetheless terminated her rights under A.R.S. § 8-533(B)(4), the felony-incarceration ground.
The Court’s Holding
The Arizona Court of Appeals vacated the termination order and remanded. An agency seeking termination under § 8-533(B)(4) has a constitutional duty to make reasonable efforts to provide appropriate reunification services to an incarcerated parent who requests them, including visitation when it would not endanger the child.
DCS did not meet that duty. Although it sent Mother letters and communicated with prison staff, it took no meaningful action to arrange visitation for months after the court order and Mother’s requests, and it did not promptly follow up after the Florida prison identified available video- and telephone-visitation options. Mother’s limited efforts to contact DCS or communicate through the placement family did not excuse DCS’s failure to provide the requested service.
Key Takeaways
- Visitation is an essential reunification service for an incarcerated parent who requests it and poses no safety concern.
- General communications with a parent or prison staff do not substitute for reasonable, timely efforts to arrange requested visitation.
- A parent’s failure to maintain alternative contact does not relieve DCS of its constitutional reunification obligation.
Why It Matters
The decision reinforces that termination based on the length of an incarcerated parent’s sentence cannot rest on an agency’s prolonged failure to provide requested visitation. DCS may pursue termination later if warranted, but it must first develop a reasonable reunification plan that includes visitation for Mother.