Sec. 46b-149f. Child from family with service needs who violates valid court order or is in imminent risk of physical harm. Petition. Hearing. Order. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 46b-149f. Child from family with service needs who violates valid court order or is in imminent risk of physical harm. Petition. Hearing. Order. (a) When a child who has been adjudicated as a child from a family with service needs in accordance with section 46b-149 violates any valid order which regulates future conduct of the child made by the court following such an adjudication, a probation officer, on receipt of a complaint setting forth facts alleging such a violation, or on the probation officer's own motion on the basis of his or her knowledge of such a violation, may file a petition with the court alleging that the child has violated a valid court order and setting forth the facts claimed to constitute such a violation. Service shall be made in the same manner as set forth for a summons in subsection (d) of section 46b-149. The child shall be entitled to representation by counsel and an evidentiary hearing on the allegations contained in the petition. If the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the child has violated a valid court order, the court may (1) order the child to remain in such child's home or in the custody of a relative or any other suitable person, subject to the supervision of a probation officer or an existing commitment to the Commissioner of Children and Families, (2) upon a finding that there is no less restrictive alternative appropriate to the needs of the child and the community, enter an order that directs or authorizes a peace officer or other appropriate person to place the child in a staff-secure facility under the auspices of the Court Support Services Division for a period not to exceed forty-five days, with court review every fifteen days to consider whether continued placement is appropriate, at the end of which period the child shall be returned to the community and may be subject to the supervision of a probation officer, or (3) order that the child be committed to the care and custody of the Commissioner of Children and Families for a period not to exceed eighteen months and that the child cooperate in such care and custody.

      (b) When a child who has been adjudicated as a child from a family with service needs in accordance with section 46b-149 is under an order of supervision or an order of commitment to the Commissioner of Children and Families and believed to be in imminent risk of physical harm from the child's surroundings or other circumstances, a probation officer, on receipt of a complaint setting forth facts alleging such risk, or on the probation officer's own motion on the basis of his or her knowledge of such risk, may file a petition with the court alleging that the child is in imminent risk of physical harm and setting forth the facts claimed to constitute such risk. Service shall be made in the same manner as set forth for a summons in subsection (d) of section 46b-149. If it appears from the specific allegations of the petition and other verified affirmations of fact accompanying the petition, or subsequent thereto, that there is probable cause to believe that (1) the child is in imminent risk of physical harm from the child's surroundings, (2) as a result of such condition, the child's safety is endangered and immediate removal from such surroundings is necessary to ensure the child's safety, and (3) there is no less restrictive alternative available, the court shall enter an order that directs or authorizes a peace officer or other appropriate person to place the child in a staff-secure facility under the auspices of the Court Support Services Division for a period not to exceed forty-five days, subject to subsection (c) of this section, with court review every fifteen days to consider whether continued placement is appropriate, at the end of which period the child shall either be (A) returned to the community for appropriate services, subject to the supervision of a probation officer or an existing commitment to the Commissioner of Children and Families, or (B) committed to the Department of Children and Families for a period not to exceed eighteen months if a hearing has been held and the court has found, based on clear and convincing evidence, that (i) the child is in imminent risk of physical harm from the child's surroundings, (ii) as a result of such condition, the child's safety is endangered and removal from such surroundings is necessary to ensure the child's safety, and (iii) there is no less restrictive alternative available. Any such child shall be entitled to the same procedural protections as are afforded to a delinquent child.

      (c) No child shall be held prior to a hearing on a petition under this section for more than twenty-four hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. For the purposes of this section, "staff-secure facility" means a residential facility (1) that does not include construction features designed to physically restrict the movements and activities of juvenile residents who are placed therein, (2) that may establish reasonable rules restricting entrance to and egress from the facility, and (3) in which the movements and activities of individual juvenile residents may, for treatment purposes, be restricted or subject to control through the use of intensive staff supervision.

      (June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4, S. 32; P.A. 08-86, S. 3.)

      History: P.A. 08-86 amended references to child from a family with service needs and added provisions re manner of service and court finding by clear and convincing evidence, amended Subsec. (a)(1) to add provision re order to remain in an existing commitment to commissioner, amended Subsec. (b) to apply to child who has been under order of supervision or commitment to commissioner, substitute "in imminent risk" for "at risk of immediate" re physical harm, add provision re peace officer or other appropriate person, add "subject to" Subsec. (c), add provision re child being subject to supervision or existing commitment to commissioner, and add provisions re findings after hearing based on clear and convincing evidence, and made technical changes.