Bill Substantially Repealing ASFA’s TPR Requirements Reintroduced
Legislation that would repeal and modify key provisions of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was introduced on March 13 by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA). The legislation (H.R. 7664) is identical to a bill introduced in the last Congress by former Rep. Karen Bass, who is now the mayor of Los Angeles.
The bill is unlikely to draw support from Republicans as written and is thus not likely to see any movement in Congress this year. But it may spark a discussion that could produce changes within the next few years.
Key provisions include:
Softening ASFA’s Termination of Parental Rights Requirements: The legislation would change ASFA to make termination of parental rights (TPR) optional for states (“may” rather than “shall”). It would change the current “15/22” rule, which directs states to terminate parental rights for children who have been in foster care for 15 out of the last 22 months, to instead require at least 24 consecutive months in foster care before termination and only terminating such rights under certain circumstances. Among these are requirements that states demonstrate "clear and convincing evidence that the state has provided to the family of the child such services, supports, and time needed to address the reasons for foster care" and that terminating or modifying these rights is in the best interest of the child.
New Nondiscrimination Provisions: The legislation adds discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion to the law’s existing protections tied to race and ethnicity. The new provisions would prevent discrimination against prospective foster or adoptive parents or the child on that basis.
ASFA was enacted in 1997 to reduce the number of children languishing in foster care by increasing the number of foster care adoptions. Since its enactment, the law has been widely implemented by the states. All 50 states now have statutes implementing the federal TPR requirements, according to a recent survey by ProPublica and NBC News. More than 30 states have even tighter timelines than the federal requirement, according to the survey.
Some argue that ASFA has substantially achieved its primary goal, which was to reduce the number of children remaining in foster care by forcing states to make timely decisions. The law is believed to have helped increase the number of annual adoptions from foster care from approximately 38,000 in 1998 to 66,200 in 2019, before receding somewhat to 53,700 in 2022, the most recent year for which there is data.
The adverse consequences for children who age out of care without achieving permanency can be life-altering, including increased risk of homelessness, joblessness, early parenthood. substance use, and involvement with the justice system.
These gains have not come without costs, however. According to a recent study, the risk that children will lose their legal relationship with their parents roughly doubled from 2000 to 2016. AFCARS data also show that terminations of parental rights have generally exceeded the number of children adopted in any given year by eight to ten thousand, which suggests that for many children, these terminations may be a pathway toward worse life outcomes within the system, not better outcomes outside of it.
Moreover, most of these terminations were due to neglect, often associated with poverty. Just 15 percent of children whose parents’ rights were severed from 2015-2019 had been removed from their homes because of concerns about physical or sexual abuse, according to the ProPublica and NBC News analysis.
Some organizations and policymakers have begun to weigh in on ASFA over the past few years, either calling for the law to be reformed or repealed. Opponents of the law include the national Repeal ASFA campaign and Stop the Clock.
VFA is currently considering ways to reform and improve the implementation of this law to ensure that more children achieve the best possible permanency outcomes based on their individual needs and circumstances.
