Right to Your Court Hearings

You have the right to get notice of your court hearings, go to your court hearings, and talk to the judge at your hearings. Not only does Texas law give you this right, international human rights law recognizes the importance of youth participating in their court cases. Many youth in foster care have concerns about not attending court hearings. You can contact the Texas Foster Youth Justice Project for assistance.

During the pandemic many courts began holding hearings by Zoom. If your court hearing is on Zoom, it should be even easier for you to be able to participate because you do not have to be taken to the hearing or miss school.

A judge is required to review your case at least every six months while you are in foster care or extended foster care and to make sure CPS is doing what it is supposed to do.

Court hearings provide the best time to let the judge know about any concerns or unresolved matters and to ask the judge to order CPS to take care of certain matters. If you feel your concerns are not being addressed promptly, don’t shy away from politely letting the judge know at the hearing and ask for responsibilities to be assigned and deadlines to be set. For example, if you are not getting to see your siblings or you are 16 years old and don’t have your identification documents yet, let the judge know! Be sure to go to the last hearing before you plan to leave foster care so you can ask the judge and your caseworker questions about leaving care, help you can get after you leave, and talk about any other concerns you have. Ask your caseworker about this hearing well in advance so you can be prepared.

Also, the court must keep your court case open for at least six months after you leave care; this is called extended court jurisdiction.