Foster parents in Arkansas are often the people who know a child best. They see the child every day. They take them to school, sit with them through nightmares, attend their doctor's appointments, and show up at their sporting events. But when it comes to the legal proceedings that determine a child's future, foster parents frequently feel like outsiders — informed after the fact, rarely consulted, and unsure whether they even have a seat at the table.

The law is more protective of foster parents than most people realize. The Arkansas Foster Parent Support Act, codified at Arkansas Code § 9-28-901 et seq., establishes an extensive list of rights that foster parents are entitled to. The Arkansas Juvenile Code gives foster parents the right to be heard in court proceedings. And DCFS policy sets out what the agency owes you as a licensed resource parent.

This article explains your rights, your role, and what you can expect at each stage of the dependency-neglect court process. If you are a foster parent navigating a case where the outcome is uncertain — or where you may be considering adoption — understanding these rights is essential.

Understanding Your Role as a Foster Parent

DCFS serves as the court-appointed legal custodian of children in foster care. That means the agency — not you — has legal authority over major decisions in the child's life, including placement, medical treatment, and case planning. Your role as a foster parent is to provide day-to-day care and a stable, nurturing home while the court determines what permanent arrangement is in the child's best interest.

This distinction matters because it shapes how the system treats you legally. You are not the child's parent. You are not a party to the court proceedings. But you are not a bystander either. The Foster Parent Support Act and the Arkansas Juvenile Code give you meaningful rights to information, participation, and voice — rights that many foster parents never exercise simply because nobody told them they existed.

The overarching goal of most DCFS cases is reunification — returning the child to their biological family once the conditions that led to removal have been addressed. As a foster parent, you are expected to support that goal. This can be emotionally complicated, particularly when you have developed a deep bond with a child. Understanding that the system is designed around reunification first helps set realistic expectations and shapes how you participate in the process.

Your Rights Under the Arkansas Foster Parent Support Act

The Arkansas Foster Parent Support Act (Ark. Code § 9-28-901 et seq.) was enacted to recognize foster parents as essential partners in the child welfare system and to establish enforceable rights for licensed resource parents. The Act covers a broad range of rights that affect every stage of your role as a foster parent.

Under the Act, foster parents have the right to be treated with dignity, respect, and consideration by all parties in the child welfare system. This is not simply aspirational language — it reflects a legislative recognition that foster parents are partners, not subordinates, of the Division. You also have the right to receive support services from the Division, including information on available support groups, training opportunities, and crisis assistance.

The Act further provides that foster parents have the right to be informed of, and have access to, any changes in applicable laws, guidelines, policies, and procedures that may impact their role — and this information must be provided in a timely manner and at least annually. If DCFS policy changes in a way that affects how you care for a child in your home, you are entitled to know about it.

Foster parents also have the right to receive specific training on investigations of alleged child abuse or neglect in a foster home, including training on their rights during an investigation. This is an important protection — foster parents are sometimes the subject of allegations, and understanding the process before it happens is far better than trying to navigate it in the middle of a crisis.

One right that many foster parents are surprised to learn about is the right to refuse a placement. Under the Act, you may refuse placement of a child in your home, or request the removal of a child from your home upon reasonable notice, without fear of reprisal or any adverse effect on being assigned future foster or adoptive placements. You are a volunteer in a demanding role, and the law recognizes that you must have some control over who comes into your home.

You also have the right to know the child's placement history — how many times they have been moved and the reasons for those moves. Upon request and within legal guidelines, you may also receive the names and phone numbers of the child's previous foster parents, if those prior foster parents authorize the release. This information can be invaluable in understanding a child's behavior and needs.

After a child leaves your home, the Act gives you the right to maintain contact with that child unless the child, a birth parent, DCFS, or the child's new foster or adoptive parent refuses such contact. Foster relationships don't have to end the moment a placement changes, and the law recognizes the value of continuity in the child's life.

You are also entitled to respite care — a reasonable plan for relief from your role as a foster parent through respite services. Caring for children who have experienced trauma is demanding work, and the Act acknowledges that foster parents need and deserve breaks.

Finally, you have the right to information on DCFS's policies and procedures for reporting misconduct by division employees, service providers, or contractors — and to have those reports handled confidentially and investigated. If you witness conduct by a caseworker or service provider that concerns you, you have a protected avenue to report it.

Your Right to Information About the Child

One of the most practically significant rights in the Foster Parent Support Act is your right to information about the child in your care. The Act requires DCFS to provide foster parents with full disclosure of all medical, psychological, and behavioral issues of children placed in their home. Prior to placement, you must be informed of all information regarding the child's behavior, background, health history, or other issues that may jeopardize the health and safety of your family or alter the manner in which foster care should be provided.

On an ongoing basis, you have the right to receive, in a timely and consistent manner, any information a caseworker has regarding the child and the child's family that is pertinent to the child's care and needs and to the making of a permanency plan. This means you should not be kept in the dark about developments in the case that affect how you care for the child.

You also have the right to receive reasonable written notice of any changes in the child's case plan, and to be given at least fourteen days' notice of any plans to terminate the child's placement with you — except in cases where the child's safety requires an emergency removal.

Your Right to Participate in Case Planning

The Foster Parent Support Act gives you the opportunity to be notified of and actively participate in all scheduled meetings and staffings concerning the child in your care. This includes individual service planning meetings, administrative case reviews, multidisciplinary staffings, and individual educational planning meetings. You are not merely entitled to attend — you are entitled to actively participate in the case planning and decision-making process.

Beyond attendance, you have the right to discuss the child's plan with the caseworker and the child welfare team, and to receive a written copy of the individual service and treatment plan. This is not a courtesy — it is a statutory right. If you have never been given a written copy of the child's case plan, request one in writing from your caseworker.

You also have the right to participate in the planning of family time between the child and their birth family, and to provide input on the child's plan of care with the expectation that your input will actually be considered. And you have the right to communicate with other professionals working with the child — therapists, physicians, teachers — as part of the professional team. If a therapist or teacher has information relevant to the child's care and you have never been in contact with them, that is a gap worth closing.

In practice, this means you should be receiving notice of these meetings and should be attending them. If your caseworker is scheduling meetings without notifying you, or holding staffings where decisions are made about the child's future without your input, that is a violation of your rights under the Foster Parent Support Act. Raising this concern in writing — and escalating it to a supervisor if necessary — is appropriate.

Your perspective matters in these meetings because you have information nobody else has. You know how the child is doing at school, how they sleep, how they react to visits with their biological parents, and what their daily needs look like. That information is relevant to case planning and permanency decisions, and the system is supposed to incorporate it.

Your Rights When Placement Is Changed

One of the most difficult experiences in foster care is having a child removed from your home — particularly when you have formed a strong bond and disagree with the decision. The Foster Parent Support Act provides some protections in this area.

As noted above, you are entitled to at least fourteen days' written notice of any planned change in placement, along with the reasons for the change, except when the child's safety requires emergency action. This gives you an opportunity to raise concerns, ask questions, and if appropriate, request a review of the decision.

The Act also gives you the right to request and receive a review of decisions that affect the approval of your foster home. If DCFS takes action related to your home's approval status — whether that's a corrective action plan, a policy violation finding, or a change to your approval — you have the right to an explanation and the right to request review of that decision.

Any removal of a child in foster care must be conducted pursuant to DCFS's policies and procedures. If you believe a removal was handled improperly, documenting the circumstances and consulting with an attorney promptly is important — these situations move quickly and the window to respond is narrow.

Your Rights During an Investigation

If an allegation of child maltreatment is made against you as a foster parent, it is investigated under the Child Maltreatment Act (Ark. Code § 12-18-101 et seq.) — the same statute used for all maltreatment investigations in Arkansas. The Foster Parent Support Act entitles you to have child maltreatment allegations investigated in accordance with that Act, and requires that any removal of a child from your home during an investigation be conducted according to DCFS policies and procedures.

You also have the right to receive specific training in advance on what the investigation process looks like and what your rights are during it. If you have not received this training, request it from your caseworker.

If you are the subject of an investigation, you have the right to an explanation of any corrective action plan or policy violation finding that results from it. You are also entitled to request review of decisions affecting your home's approval status.

Your Role in Dependency-Neglect Court

Dependency-neglect proceedings in Arkansas are heard in the juvenile division of the circuit court. These are civil proceedings — not criminal — and they are closed to the public. The parties to the case are typically DCFS, the biological parents, and the child (represented by a court-appointed attorney called an Attorney Ad Litem). Foster parents are not parties to the case.

However, not being a party does not mean you have no role. Under Arkansas Code § 9-35-313 — the current statute governing foster parent participation in juvenile proceedings — DCFS must provide notice to each of the child's foster parents or preadoptive parents whenever a proceeding is scheduled. For relative caregivers, the original petitioner in the case is responsible for providing that notice. You should not be learning about hearings after the fact.

Once notified, the court must allow you an opportunity to be heard in any proceeding held regarding a juvenile in your care. This right is established by statute — it is not discretionary. You must be given the opportunity to speak.

The statute is also clear about the limits of that right, and it is important to understand them. You may only be heard in the capacity of a witness. You may not offer evidence to the court unless you are called as a witness by one of the parties. You cannot file motions, conduct cross-examination, or participate as a party in the legal proceedings. And you cannot be made a party to the proceeding solely because you are entitled to notice and the opportunity to be heard — nor can you be made a party when reunification remains the goal of the case.

What this means practically is that your voice carries weight, but it comes through presence and testimony — not through legal standing. Showing up to hearings, being prepared to speak to the child's condition and progress, and maintaining a relationship with the child's CASA volunteer or attorney are the most effective ways to ensure that the court hears your perspective.

Types of Hearings and What Happens at Each

A dependency-neglect case in Arkansas typically moves through a predictable sequence of hearings. Understanding what each hearing is designed to accomplish helps you know what to expect and how to prepare.

Probable Cause / Emergency Hearing

This is the first hearing in a dependency-neglect case. It must be held within five working days of the filing of the emergency order. At this hearing, the court determines whether there was probable cause to remove the child from the home and whether continued removal is necessary to protect the child. As a foster parent, you typically will not attend this hearing since placement may not yet be with you, but it establishes the framework for everything that follows.

Adjudication Hearing

The adjudication hearing is the fact-finding hearing in a dependency-neglect case. It must be held within thirty days of the probable cause hearing, though the court can continue it for good cause up to sixty days after removal. At this hearing, the judge determines whether the child is dependent-neglected — meaning whether the abuse or neglect alleged in the petition actually occurred.

The burden of proof at an adjudication hearing is preponderance of the evidence, meaning it is more likely than not that the alleged abuse or neglect occurred. If the court finds the child is not dependent-neglected, the case is dismissed and the child is returned to the parents. If the court finds dependency-neglect, the case continues to the disposition hearing.

While foster parents are entitled to be heard at this hearing, do not expect to testify at the adjudication hearing unless you may have witnessed what caused the removal. Speak to the child's attorney or CASA volunteer before this hearing about what you have observed.

Disposition Hearing

Following an adjudication finding of dependency-neglect, the disposition hearing determines what happens next — what services the parents must complete, where the child will live, what the visitation schedule looks like, and what the overall case plan will be. The court enters an order setting out these requirements and establishes a timeline for the parents to achieve the conditions necessary for reunification.

As a foster parent, the disposition hearing is important because it sets the framework you will be operating under — including visitation schedules, the services being required of the parents, and the overall permanency goal. Being present and being heard at this hearing gives you the opportunity to inform the court of the child's needs and your capacity to meet them.

Review Hearings

Review hearings are held periodically throughout the case — at a minimum every six months — to assess progress. The court reviews whether the parents are complying with their case plan, how the child is doing in placement, and whether the current plan is working. These hearings are your most regular opportunity to be heard in court and to update the judge on the child's progress in your home.

Come to review hearings prepared. Know the child's current status at school, any medical or behavioral developments, how visitation with the biological family has been going, and any concerns you have about the case plan or the child's wellbeing. A prepared and credible foster parent who attends hearings regularly and offers concrete information carries significant weight with the court.

Permanency Planning Hearing

The permanency planning hearing is one of the most significant hearings in the case. It must be held no later than twelve months after the child's removal from the home. At this hearing, the court determines the child's permanency goal — the long-term plan for the child's future.

The possible permanency goals under Arkansas law include reunification with a parent or guardian, adoption, guardianship, kinship guardianship, and another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA), which is used for older youth who are not candidates for the other options. The court's permanency goal determines the direction of the case going forward.

If the permanency goal is changed from reunification to adoption at this hearing, the dynamics of the case shift significantly. DCFS will begin the process of terminating parental rights, and if you are a foster parent who has been caring for the child, you will likely be considered as an adoptive placement. This is the point at which consulting with an attorney becomes particularly important if you are interested in adopting the child.

Termination of Parental Rights Hearing

If the case reaches a termination of parental rights (TPR) hearing, DCFS is asking the court to permanently sever the legal relationship between the child and their biological parents. The burden of proof at a TPR hearing is clear and convincing evidence — a higher standard than the preponderance standard used at adjudication. The court must also find that termination is in the child's best interest.

Grounds for termination include a variety of circumstances — failure to remedy the conditions that caused removal, abandonment, certain criminal convictions, and others — and the evidence must meet the statutory grounds as well as the best interest standard.

If you are the foster parent who hopes to adopt the child, the TPR hearing is a critical milestone. Once parental rights are terminated and the child is legally free for adoption, the adoption process can begin. An attorney who handles both juvenile law and adoption can help you navigate the transition from foster parent to adoptive parent.

When Reunification Is No Longer the Goal

Many foster parents open their homes with the understanding that reunification is the goal — and genuinely support that goal — but find themselves in a position where the child has been in their care for a significant period and reunification is no longer realistic. This is a legally and emotionally complex situation.

The Foster Parent Support Act gives you several specific protections here. First, if a child who was previously placed with you re-enters the foster care system, you have the right to preferential consideration as a placement option. Continuity matters, and the law recognizes that returning a child to a home they already know can be in their best interest.

Second, if a child who has been placed in your home for at least twelve months becomes eligible for adoption, you have the statutory right to be considered for adoption — to the extent it is in the best interest of the child. This is not a guarantee of adoption, but it is a meaningful legal protection that gives you standing to be evaluated as an adoptive placement before the child is placed elsewhere.

If you are in this position, the most important things you can do are to document your relationship with the child thoroughly, maintain communication with the child's attorney and CASA volunteer, attend every court hearing, and consult with an attorney who can advise you on your options as the case moves toward a permanency decision.

When to Consult an Attorney

Many foster parents navigate these cases without legal representation of their own — and in straightforward cases where the child is expected to be reunified with their parents and no complications arise, that may be appropriate. But there are specific situations where having an attorney in your corner makes a significant difference:

• You are a preadoptive foster parent and want to understand your legal position as the case approaches a permanency planning hearing
• You have been served notice of a planned removal of the child from your home that you believe is not in the child's best interest
• A maltreatment allegation has been made against you
• You believe DCFS is not following its own policies or the requirements of the Foster Parent Support Act
• You want to intervene in the case or seek party status
• Parental rights have been terminated and you want to pursue adoption of the child

I work with foster parents all across Arkansas who find themselves at these crossroads. The juvenile court system can feel opaque and overwhelming from the outside, but you have more rights and more leverage than you may realize. Understanding those rights — and exercising them — is how you advocate most effectively for the child in your care.