Superior Court Statistical Reporting Manual

CAUSE-OF-ACTION REPORTING CATEGORIES

ALTERNATIVE RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENT

Alternative Residential Placement (ARP) - Petition to the court to allow out-of-home placement of a minor (RCW 13.32A.140), replaced by the child in need of services cause of action effective July 1995.

AT-RISK YOUTH

At-Risk Youth (ARY) - Petition to request available juvenile court services for personal or family situations that present a serious and imminent threat to the at-risk child or family (RCW 13.32A.120 or 13.32A.150).

CHILD IN NEED OF SERVICES

Child in Need of Services (CNS) - Petition to the court to allow out-of-home placement of a minor.

DEPENDENCY

Dependency (DEP) - Petition alleging a person under the age of 18 is dependent and requires court intervention to ensure his or her well-being (RCW 13.34.040). File a guardianship petition under the existing dependency action. Do not change the cause-of-action code if the dependency action results in the filing of a guardianship petition (RCW 13.34.230).

Note: A termination petition should always be a new cause of action, and should not be filed under the dependency action.

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY PLACEMENT

Developmental Disability Placement (DDP) – Petition for a voluntary placement agreement when the sole reason for the out-of-home placement is the child’s developmental disability (RCW 74.13.350). In these cases, parents retain legal custody of the child. The docket code OROHC should be used to record the order for out-of-home care for developmentally disabled children.

Note: It is recommended that if a disability placement action conflicts with an existing open case type 7 cause of action, then the existing case should be closed by obtaining an order of dismissal. A new case should then be filed under the DDP cause. A conflict is likely to occur only for old developmental disability cases that were filed previously as dependencies.

GUARDIANSHIP FOSTER CHILDREN

Guardianship Foster Children (GFC) – Petition filed by any party to a dependency proceeding to request a guardianship be established for a child in foster care.

The original dependency proceeding is dismissed upon entry of a guardianship order.

REINSTATEMENT OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

Reinstatement of Parental Rights (RPR) – Petition filed by a child requesting reinstatement of the previously terminated parental rights.

RELATIVE VISITATION

Relative Visitation (RVS) – Petition filed by a dependent child’s relative, other than a child’s parent, requesting reasonable visitation with the dependent child.

TERMINATION

Termination (TER) - Petition for a termination of a parent and child relationship following a finding of dependency and other criteria set forth in RCW 13.34.180. A termination petition should always be a new cause of action, and should not be filed under the dependency action.

TRUANCY

Truancy (TRU) - Petition to request the juvenile court to intervene on behalf of a juvenile who is unjustifiably truant from school (RCW 28A.225.030).