Impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act on youth and their families: Perspectives of foster care providers, youth with emotional disorders, service providers, and judges

Abstract

This article, which describes a component of a larger research project, focuses on participants' perspectives on (a) ways that the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) affected access to services for children with emotional or behavioral disabilities and their families, and (b) other ways that the ASFA affected children with emotional or behavioral disabilities and their families. Fifty-eight interviews with 33 participants (youth in out-of-home placements, their parents, foster care providers, service providers, and judges) took place. Participants reported that they believed the ASFA shortened the amount of time families had for correcting problems while their children were in custody. Some service providers may feel less inclined to help families because the law seems to require less from service providers than was required in the past. In addition, participants believed that when courts make decisions involving families, those decisions are more likely to call for termination of parental rights than for reunification. The investigators offer recommendations regarding these issues that involve the ASFA, families, and children with disabilities.