The mother of two dependent children appealed after the Richmond County juvenile court sua sponte transferred their custody and guardianship to paternal grandparents during a status hearing. The Department had filed a dependency petition after the mother’s arrest and concerns about one child’s untreated fracture. The mother had made substantial progress under a reunification plan but had not completed inpatient treatment. Neither the Department nor the grandparents filed a guardianship petition, and the court did not provide the notice, hearing, and findings required for a guardianship decision. The Court of Appeals reversed. The Juvenile Code permits a juvenile court to appoint a permanent guardian for a dependent child only through the statutory dependency process. Those procedural protections are mandatory because parents retain a vital interest in preventing the irretrievable destruction of family life. The same notice requirements would apply even if the order were treated as temporary guardianship. The ruling therefore vacated the guardianship transfer without deciding the ultimate custody question.