The Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division One, accepted jurisdiction but denied relief in a case where a minor petitioned to testify at a termination hearing against the advice of mental health professionals, holding that the juvenile court was entitled to consider a minor’s best interests in deciding whether to allow her to attend the consolidated hearings and testify. The court found that under A.R.S. § 8-529(A)(16), while the Bill of Rights for Children and Youth in Foster Care Act states that a child in foster care has the right to attend their court hearing and speak to the judge, such language does not establish any legally enforceable right or cause of action on behalf of any person. In addition, the court found that under Dep't of Child Safety v. Beene, 235 Ariz. 300, a juvenile court may consider the best interests of a child in determining whether a party may exercise his or her trial rights. In this case, a minor petitioned to attend and testify at her dependency and termination adjudication hearings. However, the juvenile court ruled that the minor would not be allowed to attend or testify at the hearings after her therapist and psychologist testified that allowing her to do so would be contrary to the best interests of the child and detrimental to her stability and safety. The minor appealed, arguing that she had an absolute right to attend and testify at the hearings and that the juvenile court was not entitled to consider her best interests in denying her request. Because juvenile court may consider the best interests of a child in determining whether a party may exercise his or her trial rights, jurisdiction was accepted and relief was denied.
Cite: No. 1 CA-SA 15-0186; 2015 Ariz. App. LEXIS 203 (Ariz. Ct. App. Sept. 24, 2015)
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