Michael J. v. Arizona Department of Economic Security

In Michael J. v. Arizona Department of Economic Security, 196 Ariz. 246, 995 P.2d 682 (2000) the Arizona Supreme Court set out a non-exclusive list of factors that courts should consider when determining if a parent's prison sentence will deprive a child of "a normal home for a period of years." 196 Ariz. at 251-52, P29, 995 P.2d at 687-88. The non-exclusive factors are as follows: (1) the length and strength of any parent-child relationship existing when incarceration begins; (2) the degree to which the parent-child relationship can be continued and nurtured during the incarceration; (3) the age of the child and the relationship between the child's age and the likelihood that incarceration will deprive the child of a normal home; (4) the length of the sentence; (5) the availability of another parent to provide a normal home life; (6) the effect of the deprivation of a parental presence on the child at issue. Id.