A Delicate Task: Balancing the Rights of Children and Mothers in Parental Termination Proceedings
Abstract
Description
This article considers the independent liberty interests of children in foster care and their mothers in parental termination proceedings. Federal reforms enacted in 1997 impose a mandatory deadline for the state to terminate parental rights. That policy erroneously presumes that the passage of time suffices to establish parental fault and satisfies a parent's due process rights to her child. The policy also fails to protect the minority of children in foster care who assert an interest in preserving a safe relationship with mothers who are unlikely to regain custody within the state's time frame - including many substance abusers, incarcerated parents and victims of domestic violence.
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Keywords
Violence -- domestic, Substance abuse, Neglect, Investigation - child abuse