Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights - Arizona
Circumstances That Are Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights
Citation: Rev. Stat. § 8-533
Grounds to terminate the parent-child relationship shall include any of the following, with due consideration for the best interests of the child:
- The parent has abandoned the child.
- The parent has neglected or willfully abused a child.
- The parent is unable to discharge parental responsibilities because of mental illness, mental deficiency, or a history of chronic abuse of dangerous drugs or alcohol, and there are reasonable grounds to believe that the condition will continue for a prolonged period.
- The parent has been convicted of a felony of such nature as to prove the unfitness of that parent, including murder or manslaughter of another child of the parent, or if the sentence of that parent is of such length that the child will be deprived of a normal home for a period of years.
- The potential father failed to file a paternity action within 30 days of completion of service of notice, as prescribed in § 8-106(G).
- The putative father failed to file a notice of claim of paternity.
- The parents have relinquished their rights to a child to an agency or have consented to the adoption.
- The identity of the parent is unknown and continues to be unknown following 3 months of diligent efforts to identify and locate the parent.
- The parent has had parental rights to another child terminated within the preceding 2 years for the same cause and is currently unable to discharge parental responsibilities due to the same cause.
The following also may be grounds for termination of parental rights:
- The child is being cared for in an out-of-home placement, the agency responsible for the child's care has made a diligent effort to provide appropriate reunification services, and one of the following circumstances exists:
- The child has been in an out-of-home placement for a cumulative total period of 9 months or longer, and the parent has substantially neglected or willfully refused to remedy the circumstances that cause the child to be in an out-of-home placement.
- The child, who is under age 3, has been in an out-of-home placement for a cumulative total period of 6 months or longer, and the parent has substantially neglected or willfully refused to remedy the circumstances that cause the child to be in an out-of-home placement, including refusal to participate in reunification services offered by the department.
- The child has been in an out-of-home placement for a cumulative total period of 15 months, the parent has been unable to remedy the circumstances that cause the child to be in an out-of-home placement, and there is a substantial likelihood that the parent will not be capable of exercising proper and effective parental care and control in the near future.
- All the following are true:
- The child was cared for in an out-of-home placement pursuant to court order.
- The agency responsible for the care of the child made diligent efforts to provide appropriate reunification services.
- The child was returned to the legal custody of the parent from whom the child had been removed.
- Within 18 months after the child was returned, the child was removed from that parent's legal custody, the child is being cared for in an out-of-home placement, and the parent is currently unable to discharge parental responsibilities.
The failure of an alleged parent who is not the child's legal parent to take a test requested by the department or ordered by the court to determine if the person is the child's natural parent is prima facie evidence of abandonment unless good cause is shown by the alleged parent for that failure.
Circumstances That Are Exceptions to Termination of Parental Rights
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.
Circumstances Allowing Reinstatement of Parental Rights
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.