How to Appeal a Utah DCFS Supported Finding

If you have received a Notice of Agency Action from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, commonly called DCFS, do not ignore it.

A supported DCFS finding of child abuse, neglect, or dependency may remain in state records and can potentially affect employment, professional licensing, foster-parent eligibility, adoption, or other opportunities involving children.

Most importantly, you generally have only 30 days after receiving the notice to challenge the finding.

Utah law provides procedures for challenging DCFS supported findings. The procedure depends in large part on whether DCFS classified the finding as severe or non-severe.

If you are also facing a criminal investigation or prosecution arising from the same allegations, it is especially important to understand how the DCFS proceeding may interact with your criminal case. A Provo criminal defense attorney can help evaluate those issues together.

First: Understand What Kind of DCFS Case You Have

People often use the phrase “DCFS case” to describe several very different types of proceedings.

1. Child Removal Cases

These are the cases many people think about when they hear “DCFS.”

A child has been removed from a parent's custody and a Utah juvenile court case has been opened. There may be shelter hearings, adjudication hearings, reunification services, permanency proceedings, and other juvenile-court litigation.

This article is not primarily about child removal cases.

2. Protective-Supervision Cases

Sometimes DCFS becomes involved and files a juvenile-court case without removing the children from the home.

The juvenile court may impose protective supervision, services, restrictions, or other conditions while the children remain with their parents.

Again, that is different from the type of DCFS challenge discussed in this article.

3. DCFS Supported-Finding Cases

This article focuses on a third category: challenging a DCFS supported finding of abuse, neglect, or dependency.

DCFS may investigate an allegation even when there is no ongoing removal case. At the end of its investigation, the agency may determine that an allegation is:

Supported
Unsupported
Without merit

Under Utah law, a “supported” finding generally means DCFS determined that the evidence available at the completion of the investigation provided a reasonable basis to conclude that abuse, neglect, or dependency occurred.

If DCFS makes a supported finding against you, Utah law provides procedures for challenging that determination.

The 30-Day DCFS Appeal Deadline Is Critical

This is one of the most important things to understand after receiving a Notice of Agency Action.

For a non-severe supported finding, Utah Code § 80-2-707 provides a process for challenging the finding.

Generally, the alleged perpetrator must request an opportunity to challenge the finding within 30 days after receiving the notice.

Failing to act within that period can result in losing the ability to challenge the supported finding unless a statutory exception applies.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services Office of Administrative Hearings likewise states that DCFS hearing requests must generally be filed within 30 days from service of the Notice of Agency Action.

If you receive a notice, do not put it aside and plan to deal with it later.

Write down the date you received it and determine your deadline immediately.

An Internal DCFS Review Does Not Necessarily Protect Your Hearing Deadline

DCFS may also provide an opportunity to request an internal review of a supported finding.

That can be worth doing.

But an internal review is not the same thing as requesting the formal administrative hearing.

A person challenging a finding should be careful not to assume that asking DCFS to reconsider its decision automatically preserves every other deadline.

As a practical matter, it may be necessary to preserve your formal challenge rights while also pursuing whatever internal review is available.

Non-Severe DCFS Findings: Administrative Hearing

A supported finding that does not fall within Utah's severe-finding procedure is generally challenged under Utah Code § 80-2-707.

When a timely challenge is made, the Office of Administrative Hearings conducts an adjudicative proceeding.

Importantly, this is not simply a situation where you must prove that DCFS made a mistake.

Under the statute, DCFS has the burden of proof at the administrative hearing. The Division must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the abuse, neglect, or dependency occurred and that the alleged perpetrator was substantially responsible.

That makes careful preparation of the evidence important.

Depending on the case, relevant evidence may include:

DCFS investigation records
Children's Justice Center recordings
Law-enforcement reports
Photographs
Medical records
Text messages
Emails
School records
Witness testimony
Prior inconsistent statements
Evidence contradicting factual assumptions made during the investigation

If the same allegations have also resulted in criminal charges, you should consider the DCFS case and the criminal case together. Statements or evidence used in one proceeding can potentially affect the other.

You can learn more about Jake Gunter's criminal defense practice areas if you are dealing with a related Utah criminal investigation or charge.

Severe DCFS Findings: Utah Juvenile Court

A severe supported finding follows a different procedure.

Under Utah Code § 80-2-708, DCFS may place information concerning a severe supported finding into the Licensing Information System and must notify the alleged perpetrator of certain rights.

Current Utah law provides a 30-day period after receiving the notice to take the action authorized by the statute.

Rather than proceeding first through the ordinary administrative-hearing process used for a non-severe finding, an alleged perpetrator may, when permitted by the statute, petition the Utah juvenile court for a finding that the allegation is unsubstantiated or without merit.

The Utah Courts juvenile court rules specifically recognize substantiation proceedings involving severe DCFS findings.

This distinction matters.

If you receive a DCFS Notice of Agency Action, one of the first questions should be:

Is DCFS alleging a severe finding or a non-severe finding?

The answer may determine where and how you challenge the finding.

Can a Prior Court Case Prevent You From Challenging a DCFS Finding?

Sometimes.

A prior court determination involving the same allegations may restrict a person's ability to relitigate the underlying DCFS finding.

For severe findings, Utah law places restrictions on the right to petition the juvenile court when there have already been certain court determinations concerning the same incident.

Depending on the circumstances, those may include:

A conviction
Certain juvenile-court adjudications
A guilty plea
A no-contest plea
Other qualifying judicial determinations

Non-severe findings can also be affected if a court of competent jurisdiction has already determined that the person was substantially responsible for the same abuse, neglect, or dependency.

The exact result depends on what happened in the prior court case and whether the allegations are actually the same.

What About a Plea in Abeyance?

A plea in abeyance requires separate analysis.

Utah law does not necessarily treat every criminal disposition the same way for purposes of challenging a DCFS supported finding.

For example, § 80-2-707 specifically addresses circumstances involving prior court findings while also distinguishing pleas in abeyance and diversion agreements.

For that reason, do not automatically assume that resolving a related criminal case eliminates your ability to challenge the DCFS finding.

The exact criminal disposition and the exact DCFS allegation should be compared carefully.

If criminal charges are involved, information about felony defense in Utah may also be relevant depending on the allegations.

Obtain the DCFS Investigation Records

The Notice of Agency Action should explain how to request records relating to the investigation.

You want more than the one- or two-page notice.

A meaningful evaluation of a DCFS supported finding often requires reviewing the underlying evidence, which may include:

Witness statements
Caseworker reports
Recorded interviews
Photographs
Medical information
Police reports
Communications
Other documents relied upon by DCFS

Obtaining those records early matters because the government's summary of an allegation is not necessarily the same thing as what the underlying evidence ultimately proves.

A DCFS Finding Is Not the Same as a Criminal Conviction

A DCFS supported finding is not itself a criminal conviction.

The standards, forums, procedures, and potential consequences are different.

But that does not mean a supported finding is harmless.

Depending on the type of finding and the person's circumstances, it may affect employment, licensing, adoption, child-care opportunities, or other matters involving children.

Severe findings may also result in information being entered into Utah's Licensing Information System.

For many people, that makes challenging an incorrect supported finding important even when there has been no criminal conviction.

What Should You Do After Receiving a DCFS Notice of Agency Action?

If you have received a Utah DCFS Notice of Agency Action:

Write down the date you actually received the notice.
Do not miss the 30-day deadline.
Determine whether the finding is severe or non-severe.
Request the underlying DCFS investigative records.
Preserve your right to the appropriate administrative hearing or juvenile-court proceeding.
Consider whether an available internal DCFS review should also be requested.
Be careful about making additional statements concerning the allegations before understanding how they could affect a related criminal or juvenile-court case.

The final point can be especially important when a police investigation or criminal prosecution is happening at the same time.

Utah Attorney for DCFS Supported-Finding Appeals

Attorney Jake Gunter represents individuals challenging Utah DCFS findings involving abuse, neglect, and dependency, including administrative proceedings and juvenile-court substantiation cases.

If you have received a Utah DCFS Notice of Agency Action, the deadline to challenge the finding may already be running.

Contact a Provo criminal defense attorney or call or text Jake Gunter at (801) 373-6345 to discuss the finding, the applicable deadline, and your options for challenging it.