STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

Item 27: Permanency hearings
Goal: The State will ensure that each child in foster care under the supervision of the state or county child welfare
agency has a permanency hearing in a qualified court or administrative body no later than 12 months from the date that
the child entered foster care and no less frequently than every 12 months thereafter.
To meet this goal, the State is planning to review the system currently available in UNITY for monitoring that each child in
foster care under the supervision of the state or county child welfare agency has a permanency hearing in a qualified
court or administrative body no later than 12 months from the date that the child entered foster care and no less frequently
than every 12 months thereafter. In addition, the State plans to develop a reporting mechanism to review the timeliness
and quality of hearings for the purpose of providing a continuous quality improvement feedback loop for key stakeholders
involved in the process.
Currently, Nevada Revised Statute 432B.590 mandates that the court shall hold a hearing concerning the permanent
placement of a child no later than 12 months after the initial removal of the child from his home and annually thereafter, or
within 30 days a finding that agency which provides child welfare services is not required to make the reasonable efforts
toward reunification pursuant to NRS 432B.393.3. In compliance with ASFA, DCFS Policies 0206 Court Hearing
Notification and 0514 Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) require agencies to make and finalize permanency plans by
no later than 12 months after the child’s removal and provide notice by certified mail to all the parties to any of the prior
proceedings and parents and “any persons planning to adopt the child, relatives of the child or providers of foster care
who are currently providing care to the child.”
In the most current data run 2010B period to date (04/01/10 thru 06/07/10) for AFCARS Data Element #5 the rate of
children not receiving a permanency hearing within 12 months was at .73%. The Nevada 2009 CFSR report also rated
this item as a strength. Nevada is in compliance with this item.
Item 28: Termination of parental rights
Goal: The State will ensure that a process is in place for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) proceedings in
accordance with the provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA).
To meet this goal, the State must develop a mechanism for measuring the effectiveness of the TPR process, including
information on the quality of the process and the timeliness of filing for TPR for the purpose of developing a continuous
quality improvement feedback loop for key stakeholders involved in the process. The State also plans to monitor the
impact of the courts and the legal system on the successes or challenges related to the TPR process as well as other
factors regarding TPR, such as timeliness of TPR decisions, TPR appeals, compelling reasons not to pursue TPR,
changes in procedures or approach to TPR and the TPR appellate process.
Based on the UNITY data report CFS7B3, Custody 14 to 21 Months, for the report period of July 1, 2009 through May 31,
2010, it appears that Washoe County successfully completed TPR on both parents in 53.5% of all cases within 24
months. However, for the same period, Clark County and the DCFS Rural region did not successfully complete any
TPR’s within the 24 month period. Washoe County reports an average of 43.01 months from the child’s removal to
adoption and an average of 20.42 months from removal to guardianship. This suggests that Washoe County is
successful in meeting the ASFA requirements in the majority of cases and is more successful in guardianships than with
adoptions. The DCFS Rural Region reports an average of 30.08 months from a child’s removal to his or her adoption and
an average of 29.40 months from removal to guardianship, which indicates that they are achieving TPR just a few months
over the 24 month timeframe. Clark County, on the other hand, reports that average time from removal to adoption is
41.01 months and average time from removal to guardianship is 32.17 months. This indicates that TPR is taking
approximately a year longer than is required. This is primarily due to the Clark County legal structure, which seeks to
ensure that a child is legally free for adoption before any planning is made to find a permanent home. This information is
consistent with the data from the most recent data profile (see Table 32), which indicates that approximately 10.9% are
achieving legal freedom within 6 months. This area continues to be an area needing improvement for Nevada.
Nevada APSR – SFY 2010
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