Vanessa D. v. Dcs, 1 CA-JV 16-0170

DCS removed three children from Mother (Vanessa D.) and obtained dependency findings based on neglect, domestic violence, and substance abuse; Mother’s parental rights to an older child had been terminated previously.
The juvenile court initially had a reunification plan but changed the plan to severance and adoption in July 2015; DCS then moved to terminate Mother’s parental rights under A.R.S. § 8-533 grounds.
Mother stopped participating in services and discontinued visitation. A severance trial was set for March 3, 2016 at 1:30 p.m.; Mother did not appear.
The juvenile court found Mother had notice, was warned of consequences, offered no good cause for absence, and therefore waived her right to contest the petition; the court received DCS evidence and terminated Mother’s parental rights.
Mother later sought to set aside the order, claiming medical emergency (spider bite) and robbery/theft of her phone prevented attendance; the juvenile court found her testimony not credible and denied relief.
On appeal, Mother challenged only the court’s finding of no good cause and asserted a due-process violation from the court proceeding after her nonappearance; the appellate court affirmed.

Issue	Mother’s Argument	DCS’s Argument	Held
Whether Mother showed good cause for failing to appear at severance trial	Medical emergency (infected spider bite) and prior robbery prevented attendance and contacting the court	Mother had means to attend or notify court (bicycle, bus pass), testimony not credible; absence not excusable	Court: no good cause; appellate court affirmed (no abuse of discretion)
Whether failure to appear waived procedural due process rights	Proceeding after nonappearance amounted to termination by default and denied due process	A parent may waive due process by failing to appear without good cause; court followed waiver procedures	Court: no due-process violation because waiver standard applies and Mother lacked good cause
Whether Mother showed a meritorious defense to the termination allegations	Implicitly argued she had defenses but did not identify any meritorious defense	No meritorious defense was identified or shown	Court: Mother failed to show any meritorious defense; affirmed
Whether juvenile court properly treated nonappearance as waiver (not "default")	Characterized proceeding as default; argued process defect	Court and DCS emphasized that nonappearance may be found to be waiver under A.R.S. § 8-863(C) and courts should evaluate "good cause"	Court: proper to treat as waiver after evaluating good cause; appellate court reiterated courts should avoid "default" terminology

Michael J. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 196 Ariz. 246 (discussing parental rights as fundamental but not absolute)
Christy A. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 217 Ariz. 299 (standard for setting aside judgments for failure to appear; good cause and meritorious defense required)
Manuel M. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 218 Ariz. 205 (parent may waive procedural due process by failing to appear)
Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec. v. Redlon, 215 Ariz. 13 (waiver of rights by failure to appear)
Adrian E. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 215 Ariz. 96 (standard of review for juvenile court findings on good cause)
Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec. v. Oscar O., 209 Ariz. 332 (trial court’s role in weighing evidence and credibility)
Audra T. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 194 Ariz. 376 (appellate review — affirm unless no reasonable evidence supports the finding)