The Summary of Facts shall include: 

• a brief factual history of the case including previous substantiated reports of abuse or neglect 

• dates and places of incidents of alleged neglect or abuse, and  

• other facts, which reveal neglect or abuse of the child.  

The Summary of Facts shall only include information that can be supported by admissible evidence in court. For example, facts derived from anonymous reports should not be included unless the Social Worker or another witness can independently verify those facts. 

A section on Reasonable Efforts shall be included at the end of the Summary of Facts.  It shall: 

• list the reasonable efforts that have been made to maintain the child in the home (such as referrals to Parent Aide, Intensive Family Preservation, counseling, substance abuse treatment services) or 

• state that reasonable efforts were not possible, because taking the time to make such efforts would seriously jeopardize the child's  welfare.

A preliminary draft of the Summary of Facts shall be submitted by the Social Worker, reviewed by the Social Work Supervisor, finalized by the legal staff, and approved by the Program Supervisor.  It shall be submitted with the following petitions: 

• neglect

• termination of parental rights, and/or

• coterminous.