Alabama Administrative Code
Title 660 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Chapter 660-5-30 - TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS
Section 660-5-30-.03 - Termination Of Parental Rights Process
Universal Citation: AL Admin Code R 660-5-30-.03
Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 5, February 29, 2024
(1) Making The Decision To Pursue Termination of Parental Rights.
(a) The decision to file
a petition to terminate parental rights is made when:
1. a child cannot be safely returned home or
permanently placed with relatives; the court has determined that reasonable
efforts are not required because the child has been subjected to an aggravated
circumstance such as, but not limited to, abandonment, substance abuse, sexual
abuse, chronic abuse or torture; or when a parent has committed certain crimes
against the child or another child of the parent; or, the child has been in
foster care for 12 cumulative months of the most recent 22 months, unless one
of three statutory exceptions exists including a compelling reason not to
pursue termination.
2. Once the ISP
team has established adoption as the permanency goal for the child or the court
finds that no reunification efforts are required, ASFA mandates that the
petition to terminate parental rights be filed within 60 days. For children who
have been in care 15 of the last 22 months, a TPR petition must be filed unless
there is a compelling reason not to do so (refer to Permanency Planning
Policies And Procedures). For children who have been abandoned for 4
months, a TPR petition must be filed within 14 calendar day.
3. For those children receiving permanency
through adoption, ASFA sets the timeframe for achieving this permanency goal as
24 months from the date the child entered care. Permanency is
achieved when the final decree of adoption is
signed.
(2) The Petition To Terminate Parental Rights.
(a)
The TPR petition is to be prepared and filed in the juvenile or family court
clerk's office by the local attorney who has been approved by SDHR Legal to
represent the county department.
(3) Procedures After The Court Hearing Until The Adoptive Placement.
(a) Provide
termination visit with birth parents when appropriate
1. For many children, a termination visit
with the birth parents is needed or desirable. No child should be allowed to
visit parents or relatives after parental rights have been terminated without
the decision being made by the ISP team. The decision must be based on best
interests of the child and whether it will support the child's permanency goal
and ensure safety not only in the immediate time, but in the future.
Termination visits must be based on the attachment to the birth parent and
documentation to support that termination of any contact would cause
irreparable harm to the child.
2.
The child's County DHR worker is to maintain the casework relationship with the
child. This relationship is needed to prepare the child for placement in
consideration with the Office of Adoption Placement Consultant and to
participate in the adoption pre-placement and placement process with the
Placement Consultant.
3. Decisions
on publicity for children in the permanent custody of the Department require
permission from the Office of Adoption. These decisions are to be made on a
case-by-case basis depending on each child's individual circumstances (e.g.,
the exact nature of the publicity; the age of the child; the proximity of the
birth family).
Author: Shawanda Harris
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 12-15-317 through 12-15-319, 38-2-6(10), (14), 12-15-315, 12-15-312; and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA), Public Law 105-89. R.C. v Hornsby, No 88-H-1170-N, Consent Decree (M.D. Ala. Approved December 18, 1991), (Terminated January 16, 2007).
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