Legal Definitions - ASFA

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) is a federal law enacted in 1997 designed to improve the safety and well-being of children in the foster care system. Its core purpose is to ensure children's safety, promote timely permanency (such as adoption or guardianship) for children who cannot safely return to their biological parents, and hold states accountable for achieving these outcomes. A significant component of ASFA is its requirement for states to initiate proceedings to terminate parental rights and move towards adoption if a child has been in foster care for a specified period (typically 15 out of the most recent 22 months), unless specific exceptions apply.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of ASFA:

• Example 1: Timely Permanency for a Child in Foster Care

  Imagine a situation where a three-year-old child, Maya, has been in foster care for 18 months because her biological parents have struggled with chronic substance abuse and have not consistently engaged with court-ordered treatment programs. Despite receiving various support services, the parents have not made sufficient progress to ensure Maya's safety upon return.

  How this illustrates ASFA: Under ASFA, the state child welfare agency would be required to initiate proceedings to terminate the parents' rights and pursue adoption for Maya. This is because the 15-out-of-22-month timeline has been exceeded without a safe and stable reunification plan, prompting the move towards a permanent adoptive home to ensure Maya's long-term stability and well-being.

• Example 2: Prioritizing Child Safety Over Reunification Efforts

  Consider a case where a newborn baby, Leo, is immediately removed from his parents' care due to severe neglect and medical issues directly linked to the parents' untreated mental health conditions and inability to provide basic care. The court determines that returning Leo to his parents, even with services, would pose an immediate and ongoing risk to his life and health.

  How this illustrates ASFA: ASFA emphasizes child safety as the paramount concern. In severe cases like Leo's, where reunification efforts are deemed unsafe or futile from the outset, ASFA allows states to bypass or significantly shorten the typical reunification timeline. This enables the child welfare system to move more quickly towards a permanency plan, such as adoption, to protect the child from further harm.

• Example 3: State Accountability and Performance Review

  A state's Department of Children and Family Services is undergoing its annual review of federal funding compliance and program effectiveness. Part of this review involves analyzing data on how long children remain in foster care and the rates at which they achieve permanency, whether through reunification, adoption, or guardianship.

  How this illustrates ASFA: ASFA includes provisions that tie federal funding to states' performance in achieving permanency for children. The state agency's review would specifically assess its adherence to ASFA's timelines for moving children to adoption or other permanent homes. Meeting these benchmarks demonstrates compliance with the act's goals and can impact the state's eligibility for certain federal funds, thereby holding the state accountable for its child welfare outcomes.