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The Parent Trap: The Unconstitutional Practice Of Severing Parental Rights Without Due Process Of Law, Kendra H. Fershee
The Parent Trap: The Unconstitutional Practice Of Severing Parental Rights Without Due Process Of Law, Kendra H. Fershee
Kendra H Fershee
In 1997, Congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) to stem what it perceived to be an overreliance by states on foster care to provide a safe place for children whose parents had been accused of abuse or neglect. Prior to ASFA, many children were placed in foster care for extended periods of time while their parents were evaluated for their fitness and rehabilitative efforts were made to reunify families. Congress considered the time children spent in foster care as damaging to them because it left them uncertain about where they would live in the future. Congress, in …