Reasonable Efforts to Preserve or Reunify Families and Achieve Permanency for Children - New Hampshire

What Are Reasonable Efforts

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 169-C:24-a

Reasonable efforts are services to the family that are accessible, available, and appropriate.

When Reasonable Efforts Are Required

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 169-C:24-a

Reasonable efforts must be made to do the following:

• To prevent placement
• To reunify the family
• To make and finalize a new permanent home for the child

When Reasonable Efforts Are NOT Required

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 169-C:24-a

The State agency shall discontinue reasonable efforts and file a petition for termination of parental rights when one or more of the following circumstances exist:

• The child has been in an out-of-home placement due to a finding of child neglect or abuse for 12 of the most recent 22 months.
• The court has determined that the child has been abandoned.
• The parent has been convicted of murder of another child of the parent, a sibling or stepsibling of the child, the child's other parent, or other persons related by consanguinity or affinity, including a minor child who resided with the defendant.
• The parent has been convicted of manslaughter of another child of the parent.
• The parent has been convicted of attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy to commit any of the offenses specified above.
• The parent has been convicted of a felony assault that resulted in injury to the child, a sibling or stepsibling of the child, the child's other parent, or other persons related by consanguinity or affinity, including a minor child who resided with the defendant.