Giving kids back to their parents

Article by: McKENZIE MARTIN , Star Tribune Updated: May 2, 2011 - 12:40 AM
A bill in the Legislature would allow parents whose rights were terminated to reclaim their children.

....Termination of parental rights affects nearly 700 children in Minnesota each year, who are then placed into foster care while they await adoption.

The proposed law would allow those children who have not yet begun the adoption process the chance to be reunited with their birth parents after at least two years of separation. Parents have their rights taken away for a variety of reasons, including (ALLEGED) drug, sexual or physical abuse. Under the measure, parents who (ALLEGEDLY) abused their children could not get them back.

It is a touchy issue. Some lawmakers argue parents and kids deserve a second shot to be together. Others worry the law court hurt children and send the wrong message to bad parents.

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, said if the bill becomes law, reunification would be rare.

"Is this going to solve all the problems in the system? No," said Holberg, a co-sponsor. "It might help a handful of children each year that are still looking for their place to belong."

Says Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul: "This is a body that believes in redemption, believes in redemption for parents who have screwed up and have come around again."

Rep. Debra Hilstrom, DFL-Brooklyn Center, disagrees.

"Every child wants to be loved and always looks back and says, 'My parents are coming back for me,'" she said. "This gives false hope."

....John Kingrey, executive director of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, said it would be expensive. To work, it would require ongoing monitoring. Further, he said, it will be hard to justify putting resources into reuniting a family when initial terminations are so expensive and laborious.

He also said if the bill becomes law, it might be harder to get children to cooperate with foster care and adoption services.

"It flies in the face of permanency," he said. "You need to say this is final, but now we're saying, well, it's final unless someone changes their mind."

Victor Vieth, executive director of the Winona-based National Child Protection Training Center, said if termination decisions become reversible, they might also become less considered and more frequent. (As if they are well considered and infrequent now)

"I think this is a step backwards," Vieth said. "I'm not sure I see that is in the best interest of the child." (!!)

If the bill becomes law, White and other parents would have to prove by "clear and convincing evidence" that reunification is in the child's best interest. (While the kidnappers only have to "prove" "preponderance of the evidence" to kidnap the kids to begin with.)

....Nine other states have laws similar to the proposal. But even in those states reunification is uncommon. In Washington, only 28 petitions for reinstatement of rights were filed in three years. And only 10 were granted.

Many of those states require children to be at least 12 years old to return to their birth parents. The Minnesota proposal has no such age requirement.

Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, said it should. He believes only older children, who have been separated for longer than two years, should be eligible.

"If we've terminated your parental rights, there's an awfully good reason," (Federal Funding) Mahoney said. "Two years is not very long if you've made a mess of your life."   FULL STORY

These talking heads seem to be operating under the premise that the kidnapping agency could never be wrong, that the alleged problem with the parents actually existed, and that it was something that terminating parental rights should have even happened.  They also have the idea that the system actors would never commit fraud, lie, or hide exculpatory evidence- and mole hills could never be maliciously blown up into mountains.