What are the grounds for involuntary termination of parental rights?

Every state has laws providing the circumstances under which a person’s parental rights to their child may be terminated by a court of law. Termination of parental rights legally ends the parent-child relationship. Once termination has occurred, a child is legally free to be placed for adoption with the goal of identifying a healthier permanent family solution. 

What must be done to involuntarily terminate parental rights?

In the eyes of the court, there must be clear and convincing evidence that a parent is unfit. And the court must then decide if permanently severing the legal parent-child relationship is in the best interest of the child. The decision to involuntarily terminate parental rights is not one that can be reached easily or quickly. There must be strong evidence that the child would be better off legally separate from their bio parent(s). 

What constitutes involuntarily terminating parental rights?

There are specific circumstances under which it can be determined that a child cannot maintain their safety in their home because of the risk of harm by the parent or the parent’s inability to provide for a child’s basic needs. The most common grounds for determining the unfitness of a parent are:

• Abandonment of a child

• Abuse of other children in the home

• Failure to maintain or support the child

• Long term mental illness of the parent

• Long term alcohol or drug dependency of the parent

• Severe, continuous, abuse or neglect

• Sexual abuse

How quickly can a parent’s rights be terminated?

State agencies are required to file for immediate termination of rights proceedings when a child has been in foster care for 15 of 22 months, the child was abandoned as an infant, or the parent has committed murder, manslaughter or assault causing serious injuries. Timeframes outside of those criteria are usually dependent on the situation and the age of the children involved.