[locoenlacabeza]

Hi everyone! This will be our first fost-adopt case and court is next week! So here is my question.......
Today we went to PTC and the states att. brought up some new law where if there was clear and convincing evidence to support severence then the judge can rule without a trial? Does anyone know what this is about? I tried searching the Adoption and Safe Families Act and got very little information....
Another question on homestudy.....Our homestudy is almost complete for the adoption cert. then next week is severence trial....If severence is granted what will happen next?

[swanzie]

After TPR has occured...there is usually a final goodbye visit with the bio's. Then the parents have a time period where they can appeal. This can drag the case out for a year or so. If the original TPR is upheled or no appeal has been submitted - then after a waiting period (this depends on what state you are in - my state is 30 days). Then the the children are free for adoption.

Good luck with your case, as I know this can be long and overwhelming. The uncertainty of it all is crazy. As for the new law - I have not heard anything.

[locoenlacabeza]

Thank you! It is long and overwhelming.
I haven't heard anything more on the new law either, I tried googling but got very little info.

[Hadley2]

Whatever the lawyer was talking about, it is more likely than not in your state law. Go to your state's website, click on whatever tabs they have for laws and statutes (may be under legislature). Many states allow you to browse statutes by keyword and by title or chapter name. Foster laws are usually under public welfare or some similar umbrella. TPR is usually under family courts, courts not of public record, or some similar thing since it is actually separate from foster law.

Be aware that your state laws are actually more important from a practical point of view than federal. The federal government only has regulatory power in foster/adoption matters, not jurisdictional. It can pull funds from states and penalize states that accept funds, but it cannot rule on individual cases. That is, this is an area in which states rights trump federal. To be compliant, some states incorporate into their state law the obligation to comply with applicable federal laws like ASFA, but they don't actually have to.

Even within a state, there can be great variety in how things are done. Virginia, for example, has a county-based system in which the county pretty much has parity through the local agencies and courts. That is, each county is not really as answerable to the state government as a district in a statewide system would be.

The sad truth is that there is very little enforceable nationwide and sometimes even statewide policy, protection and standards of care for these kids.