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Policy Agenda 2011

PROTECTING BONDS BETWEEN MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

On June 15, 2010 Governor David Paterson signed into law the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) Expanded Discretion Bill.

This bill amends New York's ASFA law, which almost always required foster care agencies to file termination of parental rights papers if a child has been in care for 15 of the last 22 months. The median sentence for women in New York’s prisons is 36 months, far exceeding ASFA's timeline.  

Incarcerated parents also face barriers in meeting legal responsibilities required to preserve their parental rights, like maintaining contact and finding children a non-foster care home while they are away.  The result?  ASFA tipped the scales in favor of terminating parental rights of incarcerated parents, even when such an action was not in the long-term best interests of the child and family.

The new law--which applies to both mothers and fathers--allows foster care agencies to delay filing for termination if a parent is in prison or a residential drug treatment program or if a parent’s prior incarceration or program participation is a significant factor in why the child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months. 

For the first time, the new law will require foster care agencies to inform incarcerated parents of their rights and responsibilities and to provide referrals to social services and family visiting programs.

The law places New York among the most progressive states in the country for child welfare policies that recognize the special circumstances of families separated by incarceration. 

The Women in Prison Project and the Coalition for Women Prisoners will work to ensure that the new law is implemented effectively and that it succeeds in giving foster care agencies, attorneys, courts, parents and their children a more fair opportunity to work toward reunification and safe permanency options that do not involve severing family bonds forever.

MORE INFO:

Sen. Montgomery Presser on "Adoption and Safe Families Act"

NYS Senator Montgomery Legislative Update

A Fair Chance, a slideshow about families separated by prison [order a copy]

  • Imprisonment and Families Fact Sheet [download]
  • When "Free" Means Losing Your Mother: The Collision of Child Welfare and the Incarceration of Women in New York State [download] [request a copy]