Permanency for Families
When parents and children come into the child welfare system, the one thing on everyone’s mind is permanency – what will happen with the mother or father’s parental rights, and where will the child live in the long-run.
For too many parents, termination of parental rights, and its gentler cousin surrender of parental rights, are all-too-real possibilities. But what do these legal statuses really mean? What are a parent’s options? How can treatment and child welfare professionals appropriately advocate for their clients – the children and the parents?
Legal status to a child tends not to matter until it is in jeopardy. But sometimes parents get so focused on the legal status, they overlook what really matters to them – that they stay connected to their child. This means the focus has to go beyond legal rights. Counselors and caseworkers dealing with parents at risk for losing rights need to understand the full range of permanency options, along with the continuum of living arrangements – the different ways parents are connected to children, independent of legal rights.
Permanency options
A list of permanency options that are allowable under ASFA.
Termination of parental rights
Basic information about TPRs, or terminations of parental rights.
Surrender of parental rights
Surrender of parental rights is a way for many parents to stay connected with their children, while freeing them for adoption.
Continuum of living arrangements
A non-legal look at parent/child relationships after child welfare and treatment.
