“The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), enacted in 1997, provides federal assurance that

a child’s safety and permanence remains the principal focus while involved in the child welfare system. The most sweeping reform surrounds a mandate directing the state to initiate steps terminating parental rights (TPR) for a child that has been removed from his/her home for 15 of the last 22 months. However, ASFA allows the court the discretion to waive this requirement when it determines this is not in the child’s best interest.”

“The child’s best interest” these words seem so logical. Perhaps the original authors of the act thought this would be a rarely used provision; at least I would hope so. Because if they intended for it to be used liberally, then why write the act in the first place?

Super Dad and I had already been foster parents for a few years when this act was written. I remember being really excited about the difference it would make in the lives of countless foster children, by changing the system and bringing permanence to their young lives sooner. Unfortunately, we soon learned that it really made no difference.

Yes, the caseworkers have mandated reporting periods and they must ask for permanency planning, but the courts continue to postpone and delay at their discretion. We continue to see children who have been in the foster care system for three years or more, still without a permanent living situation with their forever families.

If you wonder if this is true, go to some of the state websites, which list children available for adoption and read the child descriptions. Many of the child descriptions will tell when the child came into care or when the termination of parental rights took place. NWAE, Northwest Adoption exchange, usually tells how long children have been in care.

Our foster daughter has been with us for two and one-half years and the current best estimate for finalizing her adoption is in about six months. That is three years of limbo for a nine-year-old child, one third of her life, spent not knowing where she will grow up or with whom. Is it any wonder that we continue to deal with challenging behaviors that she frequently displays?

She is an intelligent, lovely young girl with a lot of potential. However, she nearly failed the fourth grade by refusing to do her schoolwork. During second and third grade, she had mostly “A’s” so we all knew that she was capable of doing the work. She also decided not to finish her AWANA book this year. We all knew she was capable because when she moved in with us, AWANA was half over but she really wanted her award, so she finished three Spark books in four months.

When we ask her why she won’t do her work, do her chores, clean her room, or follow rules, she always says, she doesn’t know. I’m sure that it is much too complex for her to understand. Is it any wonder that sometimes adoptions disrupt, or that long-term placements sometimes don’t end with the planned adoption?

The state of Michigan legislation says

Judges should also humanize each case and ensure that all parties receive appropriate legal representation. Court resources should be increased to handle the additional caseload expected to result from the Binsfeld legislation

.

Georgia, DC, Colorado, California Child Welfare REQUIRED INITIATION OF TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS PROCEEDINGS says:

...The GAO analyzed national child welfare data, surveyed all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and conducted on site reviews with 6 states (Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas) to obtain information on implementation and outcomes.…Adoptions have increased 57% since passage of the Adoption and Safe Families Act.”

“Adoptions have increased 57 percent.” This is awesome, but may have little to do with the current termination process. It probably has a lot to do with Listing children’s profiles on state and local websites and featuring profiles of children on local television news, radio, and newspapers; providing subsidies to relatives and foster parents who become legal guardians, utilizing IV-E waivers.

Contact your state representative.
Contact your state senator.
Who’s a Sibling in Adoption? Who isn’t?
Why should siblings be placed together?
Read more on older child
adoption
Read more about foster care adoptions.
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