ASFA
The internet has dozens of websites that are set up to "fight CPS." While inflammatory and obviously biased, they insinuate (or flat out declare) that the Adoption Safe Families Act has provided a financial incentive for social workers to "kidnap" children from their families in order to receive adoption bonuses.
While none of us believe these claims, I think it is important for us to take an honest look at ASFA and how it has helped or hindered the adoption process and what positive and negative repercussions have resulted in the passing of this legislation.
How has ASFA helped or hindered children in care? How has it helped our hindered our adoption practice? How has it affected adoptive families?
posted by Claudia at 6:58 AM
2 Comments:
Jennifer, an adoption worker from Missouri, states:
ASFA sets the guideline of 15 out of 22 months and we are often required to wait the full 15 months before we can file for Termination of Parental Rights even if the family has not taken any steps to rectify in the past 12 months. This delays permanency and we shouldn't be bound to wait if there are compelling reasons to terminate early. I get upset when I hear that people think there is an incentive to take healthy children from safe homes just to boost our numbers.
I think it's definitely a step in the right direction. When I first started working in child protection 16 years ago it was very common to have kids in foster care with no permanency for years and years. Now, we are forced to either send them home, terminate or make another permanency plan.
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