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Legal and relational permanence have long been viewed as a central outcome of child welfare services. Timely termination of parental rights (TPR) has been a cornerstone of these permanency efforts because TPRs facilitate permanency through adoption. Yet the number of adoption plans that are not finalized or sustained are not trivial. Over 2,000 youth emancipate from foster care each year and many more leave earlier but not before a TPR has occurred. Some states have passed legislation to allow reinstatements of parental rights. This paper reviews the range of factors state legislation includes, reviews scant existing literature on how TPRs may effect youth, and proposes several options for ways that unproductive TPRs can be reduced, and timely reinstatements increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we are going to study the old procedural and substantial norms that are related with the family bonds, the evolution of family types according to the norm, the jurisprudence and the constitutional block and, also, we are going to analyze the problem according to the fundamental rights of people belonging to different family ties. Likewise, this study opens a wide margin that is beyond the generality of the right on filiation in a broad sense, which includes the different family types and is based on the family bond of parenting and the rights of the foster family, at the time of carrying out this scientific work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anecdotal evidence exists to suggest a shortage of licensed foster parents in the United States. However, empirical support for this claim is lacking. A content analysis of state-level websites was conducted to explore foster home licensing data transparency. Analysis of data collected from 50 state child welfare agency websites found that 54% (n = 27) of states did not report foster home licensing outcomes. Reporting states (n = 23) varied widely in data presentation, ranging from one to five licensing outcomes reported (M = 2.52, SD = 1.31). Implications of this limited transparency are discussed for foster care policy, research, and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in the case "D.O. v. Glisson" in which the court determined that the Federal Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (FAACWA) conferred a private right of action to eligible foster families and organizations for foster care maintenance payments on behalf of the children in their care. It demonstrates that the U.S. Congress is unambiguous when it establishes privately enforceable rights under FAACWA.

The article focuses on the case Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality and Reform that raises issues relating to de facto parenthood. Topics discussed include the book "Beyond the Best Interests of the Child" by Joseph Goldstein, Anna Freud and Albert J. Solnit, Michael H. v. Gerald D. and issues surrounding foster parents, the natural parents, and the children addressed by these cases.

Only half of the states in the Untied States mandate that foster homes have a smoking ban. It is beneficial to promote training about the impacts of exposure to secondhand smoke to foster caregivers. This article presents the evaluation of a training delivered to foster and adoptive parents in Georgia. The topics with highest values learned were: five steps to creating a smoke-free home; benefits of a smoke-free home; dangers of secondhand smoke; and thirdhand smoke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how Cambridge and Cardiff poor law unions “found” families for illegitimate children between 1870 and 1930, even when doing so meant coming into conflict with national regulations. Both unions pursued support from fathers, stepfathers, maternal kin, and others. They also recognized cohabiting relationships in outrelief, and they used creative fostering and adoption schemes involving wider kin. As time went by, guardians formally took the place of some families, but failed to remove children entirely from kin who were determined to stay in contact. Ironically, then, the poor law acknowledged the relationships between illegitimate children and their families well before the Legitimacy Act of 1926. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The National Law of Adoption has been recently sanctioned, in the year of 2009. Therefore, there is a small amount of information and scientific research about new measures presented by this Law. This article has as its purpose to verify if the law before mentioned attends the needs of infants in a family situation of abandonment. Thereunto was utilized a descriptive and exploratory research from a qualitative approach, where data was collected through semi-directed research, applied individually to professionals. To exploit the narrative brought by participants, the data analysis of Erickson (1986) was utilized. Results pointed that the National Law of Adoption is bringing some benefits for infants, such as groups of siblings being put for adoption, custody or guard of the same foster family. On the other hand, the Law is not yet being effective in relation to registration of infants able to adoption and parents and people qualified to adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 127,000 children were adopted in the United States in 2000 and the same number in 2001. When adoptions go well, the events that follow are mostly private family matters. On other occasions, families discover that they have adopted a child who is suffering from mental and/or physical ailments. In cases where the adoptive parents are not aware of the child's medical history, adoptions can have unfortunate endings, including adoption disruption, litigation, interfamily violence, and even death. This article focuses on the issues involved when a family discovers post-adoption that the child has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The article will first discuss the evolution of adoption and disclosure in the United States, then provide background on the nature of FASD and the difficulties of recognizing cases. The article will then focus on (a) the psychological impact on parents who have adopted a child who is found to have FASD and (b) the impact of disclosure upon state, national, and international law. The article concludes with recommendations for improving disclosure standards and reducing the risk of FASD going undetected and undisclosed in adoptive children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the existing laws on adoption and foster care in the U.S. referencing issues on gender and sexuality. It presents an analysis on the common law rights of the biological parents and foster care providers and discusses the statutory restrictions involved in the process of placing a child under the foster care system. Moreover, it provides an overview on the difficulties faced by teenagers of different sexual orientation in the foster care institutions as well as the statutory limitations imposed on prospective foster parents on the basis of their sexual orientation. Furthermore, it discusses the provisions under the Safe Haven laws, its specific requirements, and its implication on unmarried biological fathers of the children.

The article discusses the Nebraska Supreme Court's reported determination in the 2013 case In re Anonymous 5 that a minor in foster care who is seeking an abortion mist obtain consent from her foster parents despite her apparent legal status as a ward of the State of Nebraska. Nebraska's Abortion Consent Law and various legal exceptions are mentioned. The legal rights of alleged victims of abuse are examined, along with Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services.