The Future of Children

http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=40&articleid=136&sectionid=894

 

FROM THE HOME PAGE OF THE LINK ABOVE: 

Law

The bedrock assumption underlying child welfare policy is that children are better off if raised by their natural parents.1 This preference for the role of natural parents is codified in law and provides the rationale for retaining reunification as a core outcome for children placed in foster care.2 Parents have the fundamental right to direct the care, custody, and control of their children, and it is presumed that, until or unless proven otherwise, they will act in a child’s best interest.3

 

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized the autonomy of the natural family and grants wide latitude to parents, the court does acknowledge the interest of the state to protect and promote children’s welfare and to assure that children have permanent homes.4 The exercising of this authority emphasizes that a child is not the absolute property of a parent, although state action is limited to situations in which parents are proven unfit or unwilling to perform parental duties and obligations.5 Because the presumption favoring parents has to be set aside before any other caregiving arrangements are pursued (assuming the parents do not consent), reunification has to remain the primary goal of child welfare services until a permanent decision regarding parents’ abilities to carry out their responsibilities can be made.

 

The Future of Children site has a lot of good information, the problem is CPS does not adhere to policies, laws, regulations, or standards. Its all just words on paper and children being illegally seized from their families.

For more information please visit the link above.