9.4: Parental Rights
- Page ID
- 215504
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Case Study
Sue had just begun her new job as the CASA coordinator for the county in which she lived. The judge had also assigned her to begin a new “model court” system, involving mediation and quicker deadlines for parents to meet their goals. Sue was a long-time advocate for children and was excited to delve into her first files when there was a knock on her office door. The lead social worker, Ben, stood at her door, and said “Sue, I’m heading to the Foster Care Review Board meeting. I’d like you to come so you can see why I do what I do.” Although she was anxious to start learning about the children in her program, she obligingly went along.
The Foster Care Review Board was a group of citizens appointed to be an outside review board of the foster care cases and system, and to ensure that children's rights were being protected. This particular meeting was to review the case of a young man who was aging out of foster care; he would turn 18 the next month and was still in the foster care system. When Sue showed surprise, Ben told her “I have been in this job almost 18 years. This young man was my first case. I was assigned to remove him and his siblings my first week on the job. It made a lasting impact on me, and I’ve followed his case ever since. This is why the judge assigned you to start a new system of helping these children.” Sue watched the proceedings with amazement, determined that there would not be another child in this situation.
This young man was only six months old when he was removed from his parent’s care. As a cute little baby, he was placed immediately with a foster family. This family could not accommodate the needs of his older siblings, so they were separated. The birth parent was given six months to clean up and show that she was able to care for her children. She did nothing, until a few weeks before court was scheduled... then she started making a show of efforts to quit using drugs. Her attorney argued that she was making an effort, and she was granted six more months to straighten up and show she was a competent parent. Again, she did nothing until a few weeks before her court date, when she again showed a little effort that she was trying. This pattern continued for years. Meanwhile, her children were bounced from one foster home placement to another, never knowing permanency. Laws and court practices changed, and the court finally severed her parental rights. Unfortunately, the children were much older now and were unattached. These legal orphans were seen as "unadoptable" because they had never been able to attach to a loving parent or family. As teenagers, they were now in trouble with the law and a suitable adoptive family could not be found. The young man had another month as a ward of the state, and then he would be on his own. He hadn't finished high school, was behind academically and socially, and wasn't really able to take care of himself. The Foster Care Review Board made certain that he had been offered classes in independent living, and that his case worker would make all efforts to help him get a driver's license, find an apartment and secure a job in the next month. Sue couldn't help but think that this child's life had been thrown away as a victim of the system, and that the system had failed him. How successful could he be as an 18-year-old, alone in the world?
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Largely because of cases like that which is described in the above scenario, the court system has changed how it looks at parental rights. Parents do have more legal rights than children, because they are adults. It might not seem right, but it is how The United States of America legal system is designed. However, judges now have modified how long parents have to accomplish the steps needed for reunification with their children. Instead of stringing the child along for years in uncertainty, parents have 12-18 months to demonstrate that they are capable of caring for their child... not beginning to show an interest in completing their programs and goals but having actually completed them! This puts a pause on the child's life for a year but allows them to find permanency within a reasonable amount of time. Judges also order concurrent planning; while the caseworkers are working with parents to help them become able to care for their child, they are also working on finding adoptive placements for the child, just in case!
Images created with Open AI and under no copyright
Parents do have legal rights, but the system has changed to allow the rights of children to also be considered. This is a great advancement which should help minimize the number of children who age out of foster care with no family and nowhere to go.