Termination of parental rights: Which foster care children are affected?

Kelly Noonan, Kathleen Burke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

In 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was passed with a primary goal of expediting the process of placing foster children with permanent or adoptive families. In order to meet this goal, ASFA requires states to terminate parental rights if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months. Prior empirical research on foster care dependence supports the provision in ASFA to expedite the discharge process because over time children are progressively less likely to be discharged from foster care. However, very little research has examined what impact terminating parental rights will have on this goal. One of the first steps is to examine which children are most likely to see the rights of their parents terminated and how these children differ from those children who are returned home. Using a competing risks hazard model we find many differences between the children who are sent home and those children whose parents have their rights terminated.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)241-256
Number of pages16
JournalSocial Science Journal
Volume42
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2005
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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