Parental Reunification Lawyer

What Affects Whether Reunification is Successful?

Many factors affect the likelihood of whether children will successfully reunite with their families. Research has found that certain characteristics of the child, family, and case can affect reunification outcomes, and children in care are less likely to reunite with their families when the following factors are present:

• A kinship care placement
• Longer periods of time in care 
• Multiple foster care placements 
• Health, mental health, or behavioral problems on the part of the child
• Coming from a single-parent family
• An initial placement in a group home or emergency shelter

Strengthening support systems for parents can be key for encouraging reunification and avoiding reentry, and caseworkers often seek to incorporate the following services into families’ case plans:

• Foster parent-birth parent partnerships that allow foster parents to support and mentor birthparents.
• Education and training programs that help enhance the parent-child relationship by teaching both parenting and problem-solving skills.
• Parent mentor programs that encourage parents who were once involved in the child welfare system to advocate for those currently involved in the system.
• Recovery coaches who help parents successfully complete treatment for substance abuse.
• Social support to provide a safety net for parents before and after reunification.

Families seeking reunification are often experiencing many issues that need to be addressed prior to uniting again, and parents who utilize these services are more likely to successfully reunify with their children than those who only partially participate or fail to take part at all. Because services can have a significant impact on the prospect of reunification, it is critical that agencies ensure that each family’s needs are being correctly identified and addressed.

When Reunification is Not an Option

If parental reunification is unsuccessful and is not deemed to be in the best interests of the child, DCF will pursue other options to achieve permanency. Some parents will acknowledge that reunification is not possible and may voluntarily elect to give up their parental rights. Other times, the agency will determine that the child cannot safely return home because of risk of harm by the parent or the due to the parent’s inability to provide for the basic needs of the child. In these circumstances, DCF will seek an involuntary termination of parental rights (TPR) based on the following grounds:

• Severe or continuing abuse or neglect of the child or other children in the home
• Abandonment of the child
• Long-term mental illness of the parent
• Longstanding alcohol or drug dependence of the parent
• The parent’s failure to support or maintain contact with the child
• TPR for another of the parent’s children
• A felony conviction of the parent for a violent crime committed against the child or another member of the family

When reunification efforts fail to correct the conditions or behaviors that led to the initial DCF intervention, federal law requires states to establish a “permanency plan” for each child in foster care. Florida requires that a permanency hearing be held no later than 12 months after the child was removed from the home or within 30 days after the court determines that parental reunification efforts are not required. If the court determines that a child will not be reunited with the parent, adoption will become the primary permanency option.

Contact an Experienced Florida Parental Reunification Attorney Today

Competent legal representation is strongly associated with the achievement of timely and permanent reunification. A former foster child, social worker, and DCF investigator, Vero Beach Florida Attorney Susan Chesnutt focuses her law practice on child welfare issues and knows the ins and outs of reunification. For legal advice regarding parental reunification issues, contact our firm online or call 772-492-3330 today.