In the fall of 2024, the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) mailed letters to parents who once had an open dependency and/or severance case.
Did you receive a letter? Visit the DCS letter page for more information.
Parenting Time Schedule: Plan 13
The plans provided are to act as a guide in developing a parenting time plan that best suites the needs of the child as well as the parents.
They are recommendations, not required methods.
Recommended for children ages 3 to 18 years.
How it Works
Each parent has the same 2 consecutive weekday overnights each week and alternates weekends.
Example
Vacations
The age of the child should be taken into consideration before setting stipulations on the amount and frequency of vacation taken. At least 30 days before the planned vacation, each parent must give the other parent written notice of the travel dates. At least 3 days before travel, each parent must give detailed information to the other parent, including the places they will be going and how to reach the child or the parent during the vacation.
Holidays
Parents may alternate, share, or split the holidays for children of this age.
This plan should be chosen if
- Both parents have cared for the child about equally
- Both know how to care for the child overnight
- Live close enough to each other that the child will not have long car trips between homes
- Can communicate and cooperate with each other about the well-being of the child
- Parents have been successfully following Plan 1 or 11
Advantages
- All exchanges can occur at school or child care, which is easier for most children to handle
- No parental face-to-face contact, which makes this an ideal plan for high-conflict parents
- Consistency and predictability on weekdays
- Full weekends for each parent
- 5 day blocks may be appealing to many parents
Disadvantages
- 5 days may be too long to be away from one or both parents
- Transitioning every 2-5 days may seem hard for some children
Item of Note
This plan provides each parent with alternating full weekends with and without the children. The child is away from each parent during alternate weeks for 5 days, which may be difficult for some children. This plan is helpful when the level of conflict between the parents makes things difficult, because all exchanges can take place at school or child care.