safe family act of 1997

In my experience, I respectfully disagree. The Adoptions and Safe Families Act aka ASFA has made the Child Welfare system and the court system more accountable. ASFA requires the filing of TPR within a specific guideline which was never there before but also gives the states the discretion as to whether it is in the child's best interest. That is a key point and can be argued whether something is truly in that child's best interest however I wouldn't want to see ASFA remove that discretion. There could be extenuating circumstances. The fifteen out of 22 months is a guideline and prevents children from growing up in foster care. Termination of parental rights does take time but also it should never be done hastily. If a petition for termination is not filed at the appropriate time period, then by law a hearing must be held and a finding by the court made giving the reason. The timelimit should have been implemented a long time ago. Concurrent planning should have been initiated years ago. Now permanency planning begins at the time of removal. Parents were given too much time to get their lives together in past while the children suffered. I think everyone would agree that children need permanent homes but I also don't think anyone wants parental rights terminated unless it is the last resort and the only appropriate action. ASFA created some clear requirements for the notification of foster parents for review hearings. It allows for states to bypass reunification efforts for cases where a child suffered severe or heinous abuse/neglect. It also redines foster care as a temporary placement and not permanent. I dont think ASFA is a joke and no it is not perfect but I do think it was a step in the right direction. I don't believe in the competition that has occurred between the states because of the federal monies attached to the number of adoptions. It promotes finding an adoptive home at all cost and not necessarily the best adoptive home for the child. It has become more of a numbers game and that is sad. I understand the thinking because there have been far too many children waiting in foster care. Those kids were put on the back burner because the kids who were in their own homes with reports of being abused and neglected were the ones the system needed to focus on. The kids in foster homes were "safe" and thus...the squeaky wheel gets the oil adage applies. ASFA created a financial incentive for states to promote adoption and I am not sure that is the best way. ASFA in my opinion has clarified and redefined some key areas for the states. You can find reports on what has happened in our Child Welfare system since the implementation of ASFA on casanet.org and several other websites across the internet. T