2013-09-192013-09-192013http://hdl.handle.net/11212/1107http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID894622_code283370.pdf?abstractid=894622&mirid=1This 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.Violence -- domesticSubstance abuseNeglectInvestigation - child abuse