The Social Worker assigned to the case shall be responsible for preparing a preliminary draft of the petition and summary of facts under the guidance of the Social Work Supervisor.  Checklists of all necessary documents shall be used to ensure accuracy.   

The Social Work Supervisor shall 

• review the Social Worker’s draft petition and summary of facts 

• make any appropriate changes, and 

• forward it to the area office legal staff for final drafting and review.

• review and finalize the preliminary draft petition and summary of facts provided by the social work staff, and 

• return the final draft to the Program Supervisor with recommended changes. 

Since the Department is responsible for deciding to pursue the filing, the Social Work Supervisor and the Program Supervisor shall review and approve the final petition package.   Their approval action is to be recorded in the child’s record.  

Upon notification that the petition has been approved for filing in court,  the Social Worker shall record the petition filing date in LINK on the date it is filed. 

Neglect petitions filed with a Motion for an Order of Temporary Custody (OTC) shall be filed in court by Social Workers only. The Social Worker shall remain at the courthouse to await the judge’s signature. The Social Worker shall retrieve the OTC as soon as the judge signs it. 

The court clerk 

• date stamps the documents

• assigns the hearing date

• assigns the date by which the petition must be served, and

• returns the documents to the area office. 

The procedure for returning documents to the area offices varies by court. Legal staff in each office shall be knowledgeable about the particular procedure used by the courts in the area and shall advise Social Workers accordingly. 

The staff person assigned to coordinate this process shall then conduct service of process.   

When the judge signs an Order of Temporary Custody (OTC), the Social Worker shall immediately return the documents to the area office staff responsible for service of process as the time frame during which service can be made is very short. 

The Social Worker and Social Work Supervisor shall be responsible for meeting all court due dates including, but not limited to, hearings, case status conferences, and written status reports. 

Sources of information on court due dates are LINK reports and monthly and quarterly reports from the court.  To ensure that no court dates are missed, however, court and filing LINK reports shall  be supported  by a separate tickler system.