Legislators in New York State are considering passing a bill to ensure that children adopted from foster care can continue to have contact with their parents, even when rights are terminated, if it’s in the child’s best interest. Here, Rise’s Sara Werner, who lost her daughter to adoption but reunified with her son, interviews Amy Mulzer, a staff attorney for law and appeals in the Family Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services:
I froze. My head was pounding and I felt like that should have been my last day working in child welfare. I just wanted to go home and lock myself in my room.
I was in Bronx Family Court, being yelled at because a parent on my caseload had missed a visit, even though up until that point, she had always made all her visits.
“What happened? Why didn’t this visit happen?” the judge asked, over and … Read More
If you’ve been off track in bringing your children home, you may feel that you’ve already lost. But it’s important to talk to your lawyer about exceptions to the Adoption and Safe Families Act that may allow you to continue working toward reunification. Each state has different rules. Below are some New York state exceptions you should talk to your lawyer about.
Termination of parental rights is not always mandatory:
Agencies can decide not to change the … Read More
A coalition of NYC lawyers and advocates has proposed a new bill, Preserving Family Bonds, which would give New York City family court judges the power to order contact between adopted children and their biological families after the termination of parental rights (TPR). Right now, biological parents and children have no legal rights to see each other after a TPR if the adoptive parent doesn’t want it, even if a judge believes it’s in the … Read More
Once it’s clear that a child is going to be adopted, it can be extremely hard for biological and adoptive parents to maintain a relationship with each other. But without it, children can be forced to choose between two families.
Sarah Gerstenzang, an adoptive parent, and co-founder of the Adoption Foster Care Therapist Network says there are steps both sides can take.
•Adoptive parents can speak to a therapist with the child about what kind of relationship … Read More
