The dependency timeline, every hearing.

The timeline at a glance

A "dependency case" is the juvenile court case that exists because the state alleged a child was abused, neglected, or otherwise without proper care — it's the legal container your foster placement lives inside. Georgia's juvenile code puts every stage of that case on a clock; the deadlines are summarized in O.C.G.A. § 15-11-102, titled "Dependency case time limitations," with each hearing's own code section supplying the details. Verified Jul 2, 2026

Here is the whole arc, in the order it happens. Every deadline below comes from DFCS's own court-process policy, PAMMS 17.1 "The Juvenile Court Process" (effective July 2024), which cites the statute for each one. Verified Jul 2, 2026

The 72-hour hearing: the case's first breath

The preliminary protective hearing (PPH) is the emergency check on removal: it must be held within 72 hours of the child's placement into foster care (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-145; if the deadline lands on a weekend or legal holiday, it moves to the next business day). Verified Jul 2, 2026 The judge decides whether there's probable cause and whether protective custody is actually necessary — a child can go home at this hearing even when probable cause is found. Verified Jul 2, 2026

If the child stays in care, the formal dependency petition must be filed within 5 days of the hearing. Verified Jul 2, 2026

What it means for you: the PPH usually happens right around the time you're getting the placement call — which is why first days are chaotic and information is thin. You aren't expected to attend (DFCS policy even carves the PPH out of the usual advance-notice requirement, because there often isn't time Verified Jul 2, 2026). It's also the first honest lesson of dependency work: the child in your guest room tonight could lawfully go home this week. Placements are real from day one; permanence never is.

Adjudication: "is this child dependent?"

The adjudication hearing is the trial-like heart of the case: the court decides whether the allegations in the petition are true and the child legally is a "dependent child." When the child is in foster care, it must be scheduled no later than 10 days after the petition is filed — and DFCS policy notes the petition may be dismissed without prejudice if adjudication isn't completed within 60 days of removal. Verified Jul 2, 2026

What it means for you: this finding is the legal foundation of everything after — the case plan, the reviews, the placement itself. If the court does not find dependency, the case ends and the child goes home. You typically won't testify here unless subpoenaed; the fight is about what happened before the child reached you.

Disposition: "so what happens now?"

Once dependency is found, the disposition hearing answers the practical question: who has custody, and what must happen next. It must be held and completed within 30 days after the adjudication hearing concludes. Verified Jul 2, 2026 This is where the case plan — visitation, services, the reunification to-do list — gets its court approval.

What it means for you: the case plan approved here is the document your weeks will orbit: visit schedules, appointments, transports. Georgia's Foster Parent Bill of Rights gives you the right to participate in case planning and to have your input considered, and a voice in planning family visitation — rights 14–16, explained in plain English here. Use them at this stage, when the plan is being written, not after it's set.

Review hearings: the case plan's report card

Dependency cases don't drift unexamined — the law schedules check-ins. The initial review comes within 75 days of the child's removal from home; the next review follows 4 months after that, and reviews continue every 6 months. Verified Jul 2, 2026 Reviews ask whether the case plan is being worked — by the parents, and by DFCS — and whether the current placement and plan still fit. Depending on your county, some reviews happen before a judge and some before a Judicial Citizen Review Panel; both count as reviews you're entitled to know about.

What it means for you: reviews are the rhythm section of the case, and they are squarely inside your right to advance written notice and to be heard (next section). A short, factual written update from the person who actually lives with the child — sleep, school, therapy, visits — is often the most concrete evidence in the room.

Permanency plan hearings: naming the destination

The permanency plan hearing is where the court stops asking "how is the plan going?" and asks "where is this case going?" The clock is age-sensitive: no later than 9 months after the child is considered to have entered foster care for a child under 7 (or a sibling group with at least one child under 7), and no later than 12 months for children 7 and older — then at least every 6 months after that. Verified Jul 2, 2026

What it means for you: this is the hearing where reunification either stays the plan or gives way to another permanent home, and courts weigh permanent placement options in and out of state. Verified Jul 2, 2026 If you've wondered "how long will this child be with us?" — the honest answer is nobody knows, but this is the hearing where the direction gets said out loud, on the record.

When "TPR" appears on the timeline

TPR stands for termination of parental rights — a court order that permanently ends the legal relationship between a child and their parent. It is the door that must close before adoption can open. It's a separate proceeding with its own petition and hearing, not just another review.

Federal and state rules force the filing question onto the calendar: DFCS must file a TPR petition when a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months — by the end of the child's 15th month in care — and must file within 60 days in certain aggravated situations (abandonment, or a parent's conviction for specified violent felonies). Verified Jul 2, 2026 But "must file" has real exceptions: DFCS may elect not to file when the child is being cared for by a relative who intends to be the permanent placement, when a documented compelling reason shows TPR isn't in the child's best interest, or when DFCS itself hasn't provided the services the case plan promised. Verified Jul 2, 2026

What it means for you: TPR on the docket means the plan has turned, or is turning, from reunification. If the child has been with you 12 months or more and is released for adoption, the Bill of Rights says you're to be considered first choice as a permanent parent, where appropriate — right 20, explained here. It's also the moment to say clearly, to your case manager and in court if invited, what your family is and isn't able to commit to. Silence gets read as an answer.

Your seat: notice, and the right to be heard

You are not a bystander to this timeline. DFCS policy (PAMMS 17.8, "Caregiver's Right to be Notified and Heard") requires that caregivers — foster parents, pre-adoptive parents, and kin — receive written notice at least 72 hours in advance of the date, time, place, and purpose of reviews and hearings held about a child in their care, and that they have a right to be heard: adjudication, disposition, case plan reviews, permanency hearings, TPR, and Judicial Citizen Review Panels. The only carve-outs are preliminary protective and emergency hearings, when notice isn't possible. Verified Jul 2, 2026 The same guarantee lives in the Foster Parent Bill of Rights — see rights 14–16 and 18.

Policy is equally clear about the ceiling: "Notice of and a right to be heard does not make the caregiver a party to the proceeding." Verified Jul 2, 2026 You can inform the court; you can't appeal its orders, cross-examine witnesses, or demand an attorney's seat at the table. Knowing both halves — the floor and the ceiling — keeps you effective and credible in that room.

If hearing notices aren't reaching you, that's a named, grievable right — start with a written note to your case manager, and climb the grievance ladder if it doesn't get fixed.

Who are all these people?

Your first hearing will have more people in it than you expect: the judge, the parents and their attorneys, the child's attorney, a DFCS attorney (called a SAAG), the case manager, and often a CASA volunteer or guardian ad litem whose whole job is the child's best interest. Sorting out who speaks for whom — and who you should introduce yourself to — is its own guide: CASA, GAL, and everyone else in the courtroom.

The honest part: the clock stretches

Practice, not policy

Everything above is the law's clock. Real cases run slower. Continuances — postponements of a scheduled hearing — are a routine feature of dependency court: crowded dockets, an attorney conflict, a parent mid-program, a missing evaluation. Ask experienced Georgia foster parents and they'll tell you the 12-month permanency hearing is a target the strong cases hit, and that "the case will probably wrap up by spring" is a sentence to hold loosely, every time.

The law does push back. Georgia's continuance statute (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-110, implemented in PAMMS 17.5) says continuances are granted only on a showing of good cause, only for the time shown to be necessary, and not when the delay is contrary to the child's interests — and the court must weigh a child's need for prompt resolution and a stable home, and the damage of prolonged temporary placements. Party convenience and attorney stipulation are explicitly not good cause. Verified Jul 2, 2026

What it means for you: plan your family's life around the placement being real, not around a predicted end date in either direction. When a hearing slips, ask your case manager two factual questions: what was the stated reason, and what's the new date. Both belong in your notes.