It depends on the local practice. Many of the Courts that I am in, parents are certainly entitled to go but are not required and parents missing that date will not be held against them versus missing other dates.  At the end of date, most of the time it deals with the status and making sure that things, such as paternity have been established, that service has been established, that the DCF records are out and the court investigators reports are out and so forth.

At the end of the Motion status, something called a “Status Order” will occur.  Typically, a Motion Status date is not a significant substance in the day. It deals more with discovery and housekeeping issues.