Children's Interests in a Familial Context: Poverty, Foster Care, and Adoption
![handle is hein.journals/ohslj60 and id is 1203 raw text is: Children's Interests in a Familial Context:
Poverty, Foster Care, and Adoption
NAOMI R. CAHN*
In regards to abused and neglected children, federal policy has shifted its
emphasis away from efforts to preserve the family unit, and towards efforts to
create new families for these children. This policy shift is reflected in the
Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which allows for simultaneous efforts to
reunite the child with his or herfamily along with efforts to place the child up for
adoption. Professor Cahn argues that placing such an emphasis on adoption will
create situations in which otherwise strong familial bonds are disrupted,
resulting in severe damage to the child. The author argues that it is unwise to
pursue adoption while at the same time pursuing reunifation. Rather, each
child should be cared for with family reunification as the primary goal.
Professor Cahn begins by providing an overview offederal involvement in
foster care. She then discusses some of the problems with the emphasis upon
removing a child from his or her family-since each child's situation is not given
an individual evaluation, one instance of abuse or neglect may result in
permanent damage to an otherwise strong familial relationship. The author
continues by noting that the interests of the child often overlap with the interests
of the parent, even when these interests diverge, policies can be implemented
which benefit both the parents and the child. Finally, Professor Cahn concludes
by suggesting a more humane system offoster care and adoption that would
emphasize family preservation as the preferred solution.
In 1996, Representative Clay Shaw convened hearings on Barriers to
Adoption. Notwithstanding the title, the hearings focused on barriers to moving
children more quickly out of foster care and into an adoptive family. Witnesses
narrated horror story after horror story about children who had languished in the
foster care system, or who had continued to experience abuse in their families of
origin, rather than being placed out for adoption. These and similar hearings
culminated in the enactment of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
(ASFA),2 which was designed to promote the adoption of children in foster care,3
* Professor, George Washington University Law School. Professor Calm would like to
extend thanks to Martha Matthews, Catherine Ross, Joan Hollinger, Susan Mangold and
Barbara Babb for their extremely helpful comments, to Kate Federle for organizing such a
timely and thought-provoking conference, to Shana Stanton and Michelle Wu for research
assistance, and to the George Washington University Law School for its financial support.
1 Bariers to Adoption: Hearings on S. 104-76 Before the Subcomm. on Human Resources
of the House Comm. on Ways & Means, 104th Cong. 2-5 (1996) [hereinafter Barriers to
Adoption].
2 Pub. L. No. 105-89, 111 Stat. 2115 (codified as amended in scattered sections of
42 U.S.C.).
3 See 42 U.S.C. § 671(c) (Supp. 1111997) (requiring that reasonable efforts shall be made
to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan, and to complete](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ohslj60&div=34&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Children's Interests in a Familial Context: Poverty, Foster Care, and Adoption
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