The Youth Court of South Australia has launched a new video to give parents going through the Reunification Court an idea of what to expect.
The Reunification Court was piloted in 2018 by the Youth Court, the Department for Child Protection (DCP) and Legal Services Commission and has been in operation in its current form since last year.
Releasing the Reunification Court Video, the Youth Court said the video would be the first in an Information Platform Project to develop an age and client-centric platform of valuable resources to assist users of the Court.
“The Reunification Court is where the Judge meets with the parents and the case worker to review the progress towards reunification as agreed in the case plan,” the Court said in a statement.
It said the Reunification Court was conducted informally around the bench table in Court Room 1 by the Judge of the Youth Court, the parents/child’s Department for Child Protection (DCP) caseworker and the child’s legal representative.
The Youth Court said that at the hearings a case plan was verbally presented by the DCP worker outlining what changes needed to occur and how they would be achieved, and progress was reviewed.
“The Reunification Court is a court hearing where parents have an opportunity to talk to the Judge, Department for Child Protection and the Children’s Representative about how the goals in the case plan are being met,” it said.
“The Reunification Court is more relaxed than other care and protection hearings. Everyone sits at the bar table and discusses the reunification goals in the case plan.”
The Youth Court’s three-minute video can be accessed on YouTube at this PS News link.
