Law Commons^™

Treating Prior Terminations Of Parental Rights As Grounds For Present Terminations, Kathleen Haggard

Washington Law Review

The federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 recognized that in certain egregious circumstances, states need not seek to reunify a family before terminating the rights of abusive and neglectful parents. Washington State responded by revising its termination of parental rights statute to treat parents' violent criminal convictions as sole grounds for terminating parental rights. This Comment argues that the Washington statute should be further amended to recognize that a termination of rights to a previous child may serve as grounds for terminating rights to a present child if the State finds the parent's continuing behavior puts the child …