Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

1 STATE. STATUTES. Current Through December 2016. WHAT'S INSIDE. Grounds for Involuntary Grounds for Termination of Parental Rights Termination of Parental Rights Exceptions When Parental Rights Every State, the District of Columbia, American may be reinstated Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have statutes Summaries of State laws providing for the Termination of Parental Rights by a court. Termination of Parental Rights ends the legal parent-child relationship. Once the relationship has To find statute been terminated, the child is legally free to be placed information for a particular State, for adoption with the objective of securing a more go to stable, permanent family environment that can meet the child's long-term parenting needs. gov/topics/systemwide/. laws-policies/state/. Termination may be voluntary or Involuntary .

2 Birth parents who wish to place their children for adoption may voluntarily relinquish their When addressing whether Parental Rights should be terminated involuntarily, most States require that a court: Determine, by clear and convincing evidence, that the parent is unfit2. Determine whether severing the parent-child relationship is in the child's best interests 1. For State-by-State details on voluntary relinquishment, see Child Welfare Information Gateway's publication Consent to Adoption at systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/consen t/. 2. The Supreme Court, in Santosky v. Kramer (455 745 (1982)), set the standard of proof in Termination of Parental Rights proceedings at clear and convincing evidence. Children's Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS. | Email: | Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights Grounds for Termination of Parental In approximately 30 States and Puerto Rico, a parent's Rights can be terminated if he or she has been convicted Rights of committing sexual abuse or another sexual The Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental In 14 States and Puerto Rico, a parent's Rights can be Rights are specific circumstances under which the child terminated upon conviction for child sexual exploitation cannot be returned safely home because of risk of harm (including prostitution or child pornography).

3 5 A. by the parent or the inability of the parent to provide conviction for human trafficking or sex trafficking of a for the child's basic needs. Each State is responsible for minor can result in Termination of a parent's Rights in establishing its own statutory Grounds , and these vary by six In 21 States, a man's Parental Rights can be State. terminated when he committed rape or sexual assault of the child's mother and the child was conceived as The most common statutory Grounds for determining a Being required to register as a sex offender Parental unfitness include: constitutes a ground for Termination in nine Severe or chronic abuse or neglect A felony conviction of the parent(s) for a crime of Sexual abuse violence against the child or another family member Abuse or neglect of other children in the household is a ground for Termination in every State, the District Abandonment of the child of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

4 In 27. States, a conviction for any felony that results in long- Long-term mental illness or deficiency of the parent(s). term incarceration and requires the child to enter foster Long-term alcohol- or drug-induced incapacity of the care because of a lack of alternatives may also constitute parent(s). Grounds for Termination of Parental All States Failure to support or maintain contact with the child recognize abandonment of a child as Grounds for Involuntary Termination of the Rights of the parent to Termination , while 12 States specifically include cases in another child which a newborn infant has been relinquished to a safe- haven The above factors become Grounds for terminating Parental Rights when the parent has failed to correct the conditions and/or Parental behaviors that led to State intervention and is unable to provide a safe home for the 4. The word approximately is used to stress the fact that States frequently child, despite reasonable efforts by the State agency to amend their laws.

5 This information is current only through December 2016. The States that provide for Termination of Rights upon criminal conviction for a provide services to prevent out-of-home placement or to sexual offense include Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, achieve family reunification after out-of-home Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wisconsin. 5. Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. 6. Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. 7. California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin.

6 8. Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. 9. Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, 3. For more information on the reasonable efforts requirement, see Child New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Welfare Information Gateway's reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. families and Achieve Permanency for Children at 10. Arkansas, California, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/stat utes/ reunify /. Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway.

7 This publication is available online at 2. Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights Timeframes for Termination Proceedings Exceptions The Adoption and Safe families Act (ASFA) requires State While State laws require that proceedings to terminate agencies to file a petition to terminate Parental Rights , Parental Rights be initiated when statutory Grounds are with certain exceptions, when:11 met, approximately 34 States, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands12 provide for exceptions A child has been in foster care for 15 of the most recent under some circumstances, including one or more of the 22 months. following: A court has determined that: The child has been placed under the care of a relative. The child is an abandoned infant. The State agency has documented in the case plan The parent committed murder or voluntary a compelling reason to believe that terminating the manslaughter of another child of the parent; aided, parent's Rights is not in the best interests of the child.

8 Abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; or The State agency has not provided the parent with the committed a felony assault that resulted in serious services required by the service plan to facilitate safe bodily injury to the child or another child of the reunification. parent. In six States and the Virgin Islands, the court will not In response to ASFA, many States have adopted limits to terminate Parental Rights over the objection of an older the maximum amount of time a child can spend in foster child unless the court finds the child lacks the mental care while the parent is provided with the opportunity capacity or maturity to In four States, a parent's to engage in the services required by the service plan to Rights cannot be terminated if the sole reason the parent correct the conditions that led to the child's placement in has not provided adequate care is due to In out-of-home care.

9 Many States have adopted the ASFA three States and Puerto Rico, a parent's Rights cannot standard that requires the State agency to file a petition be terminated due solely to the legitimate practice of to initiate Termination proceedings when the child has religious In California and Montana, the Rights of been in out-of-home care for 15 out of the most recent an Indian parent may not be terminated unless a qualified 22 months, and the parent has not been making progress expert witness has testified that leaving the child in the in meeting service plan requirements. Some States, parent's custody is likely to result in serious emotional or however, specify shorter time limits, particularly for very physical harm to the child. young children. 12. The States that currently provide for these exceptions include Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

10 13. California (a child age 12 or older), Colorado (age 12 or older), Iowa (age 10. or older), New Mexico (age 14 or older), New York (age 14 or older), Virginia 11. ASFA ( 105-89) amended title IV-E of the Social Security Act, which (age 14 or older), and the Virgin Islands (age 15 or older). establishes guidelines that States must comply with as a condition for 14. Florida, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. receiving Federal title IV-E funds. 15. Delaware, Georgia, and Utah. This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information Gateway. This publication is available online at 3. Grounds for Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights When Parental Rights May Be In Alaska, a parent may petition for restoration of Rights only in cases in which a birth parent has voluntarily Reinstated relinquished his or her Rights at any time before an A Termination action can sever the Rights of one parent adoption has been finalized.