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Article
Reasonable efforts? Implementation of the reunification exception provisions of ASFA
Child Welfare Journal (2008)
  • J D Berrick, University of California - Berkeley
  • C Young, Chung-Ang University
  • Amy C D’Andrade, San Jose State University
  • Laura Frame
Abstract
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 includes provisions to deny reunification services under specified conditions and gives states latitude to develop any number of additional “aggravated circumstances” in which parents need not be offered services. California legislators have developed a relatively large number of conditions enabling agencies to bypass reunification services. Based upon a case record review involving 1,055 parents, this study attempts to identify the proportion of parents eligible for a reunification bypass, the proportion recommended to the courts, and the proportion of parents who were denied reunification services, and examines the characteristics of parents associated with reunification bypass recommendations. Based upon focus groups and interviews with child welfare and judicial personnel in six counties, the study also examines the implementation of reunification bypass provisions. Implications for public policy and practice are provided.
Keywords
  • reunification,
  • ASFA
Disciplines
Publication Date
2008
Publisher Statement
Copyright, CWLA. Reproduced/posted with permission of the Child Welfare League of America (www.cwla.org).
Citation Information
J D Berrick, C Young, Amy C D’Andrade and Laura Frame. "Reasonable efforts? Implementation of the reunification exception provisions of ASFA" Child Welfare Journal Vol. 87 Iss. 3 (2008)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/amy_dandrade/2/