When your child is confined in a Protective Safe House (PSH) under a Protection of Children Abusing Drugs (PChAD) Protection Order, staff will make your child aware of their right to obtain
Yes. Your child has the right to appeal their PChAD Protection Order at any time. If they make a request for review, the court may confirm, vary or terminate the original order (see below). The court can also extend the period of confinement set by the original order by up to five extra days. A review can be requested more than once, but a judge will decide how many times the case will be heard.
As the child’s guardian, you will be informed by either your child or the staff at the PSH whenever there is a request for a review. We recommend that you attend the review hearing, especially if you are the one who initiated the PChAD Protection Order. At the hearing, the judge may ask you to present any evidence that was also reviewed at the application hearing. If you know of any new evidence, the judge may ask you to present it.
The purpose of a review is to give the child an opportunity to tell the judge why they feel they should not be under a PChAD Protection Order. Once a child has requested a review of their PChAD Protection Order, the review must take place within the next two days. Reviews are heard in courtrooms, and the child may have their lawyer present. Children can also be seen in court through the Closed Circuit Television system at their PSH, if this is available.
Parents, guardians and Alberta Health Services staff can apply for an extension (up to a maximum of five extra days) of the child’s PChAD Protection Order. An extension is sometimes needed, for many different reasons (e.g., to complete an assessment of the child). The review process when applying for an extension is the same as described in the previous section. The application must be filed in court, and the review must be heard within two days of the request.
Once the order has been reviewed in court, three things could happen:
Review forms are available at your local courthouse. A list of Alberta courthouses can be found at: Court Practice and Schedules, Provincial Court of Alberta.
