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Home > Adoption > Foster Care Adoption > Legal Issues and Laws on Foster Care Adoption > Termination of Parental Rights
Termination of Parental Rights
Before children are legally free to be adopted, their birth parents' rights must be terminated. This can be done voluntarily or involuntarily. Courts and judges make decisions about terminating parental rights based on State laws. Resources include State and local examples.
Criteria and Procedures for Determining a "Compelling Reason" not to File a TPR (PDF - 126 KB)
Provides criteria for making a "compelling reason" determination and outlines a process for documenting and reviewing those determinations.
Court Hearings for the Permanent Placement of Children
Court hearings are used to review the status and determine the permanent placement of children who have been placed in out-of-home care, including foster care. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) amended title IV-E of the Social Security Act in an effort to provide added safety and permanency for children in foster placement. ASFA placed an emphasis on expediting and improving planning and decision-making for the permanent placement of children in the child welfare system.
Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights
Reviews State laws that detail the specific circumstances that must be present when a court terminates the legal parent-child relationship.
Reasonable Efforts to Finalize the Plan of Adoption: Termination of Parental Rights, the First Step
Fiermonte
ABA Child Law Practice, 20(4) 2001
View Abstract
Presents specific questions to help judges evaluate agency efforts when a permanency plan is termination of parental rights and adoption.
Reasonable Efforts to Preserve or Reunify Families and Achieve Permanency for Children
Reasonable efforts refer to efforts made by State social services agencies to provide the assistance and services needed to preserve and reunify families. Laws in all States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico require the provision of services that will assist families in remedying the conditions that brought the child and family into the child welfare system. The statutes in most States, however, use a broad definition of what constitutes reasonable efforts. Some commonly used terms associated with reasonable efforts include "family reunification," "family preservation," "family support," and "preventive services."
Termination of Parental Rights
National Center for State Courts (2004)
Resources describing the issues surrounding terminating parental rights, differences in State laws, and links to how TPR cases are expedited in appellate courts.
Termination of Parental Rights to Free Children for Adoption: Conflicts Between Parents, Children, and the State
Haugaard & Avery (2002)
In Children, Social Science, and the Law
View Abstract
Examines the interests of the State, the parent, and the child in termination of parental rights proceedings and reviews the effects of the process on child outcomes.
Termination of Parental Rights: Which Foster Care Children Are Affected?
Noonan & Burke
Social Science Journal, 42(2), 2005
View Abstract
Using a competing risks hazard model, differences between the children who are reunified with birth family and those whose parents have their rights terminated are discussed.
Time Between TPR and Finalization: October 1, 2002 to September 30, 2003
Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2005)
Presents data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
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State and local examples
Best Interests of the Child Remain Paramount in Proceedings to Terminate Parental Rights
Crick & Lebovits
New York State Bar Journal, 73(41), 2001
View Abstract
Discusses procedures for filing TPR petitions and considerations for child welfare agencies. Each step of the termination process is described, with recommendations for agencies and attorneys.
Best Practices in Termination and Adoption Cases: A Report From the Best Practices in Adoptions Workshops (PDF - 46 KB)
Georgia Model Courts Project, Georgia Council of Juvenile Court Judges (2003)
Outlines court practices for termination of parental rights cases and adoption.
Children Have a Statutory Right to a Hearing on the Merits for a Petition to Terminate Parental Rights
Stein
University of Baltimore Law Forum, 30(78), 2001
View Abstract
Reviews a case in which several children appealed lower court decisions denying their requests for hearings on TPR petitions.
Diligent Search Project. Final Evaluation Report
Center for Child and Family Studies (2000)
View Abstract
Features collaboration between Child Support Enforcement and Family Preservation and Child Welfare Services in South Carolina to improve the success of searches for missing parents prior to a termination of parental rights proceeding.
Expediting Appeals in the Court of Appeals in Virginia: An Analysis of Time Frames in Termination of Parental Rights Cases: Final Report
Virginia Court Improvement Program (2001)
View Abstract
Examines the impact on case scheduling and resolution of a 1998 Virginia statute requiring that termination of parental rights cases take priority over other cases to expedite permanency for waiting children.
Freeing Children for Adoption. The Diligent Search Center: An Urban Model for Expediting the Termination of Parental Rights
Illinois Action for Children (1998)
View Abstract
Provides background on Cook County's (Illinois) foster care population and on specific barriers to permanency in this area.
Terminating Parental Rights by Jury Trial in Arizona: A First Year Look (PDF - 545 KB)
Children's Action Alliance (2005)
Examines the legislative mandate initiated in Arizona in December 2003 to allow jury trials for termination of parental rights hearings based on a parent's request.
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