Fighting ASFA: The 1997 federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), passed soon after the 1994 crime bill that launched mass incarceration, incentivized adoption and gave parents just 15 months to reunify before states could permanently terminate their rights.

• Lynne Miller, a Rise writer and board member, presented a parent-written paper at a CSSP briefing for Congressional representatives about ASFA’s impact on families, arguing that the requirement that states make “reasonable efforts” to assist families in reunifying must be strengthened.
• ASFA particularly impacted parents in prison and inpatient addiction treatment. With the Osborne Association, Rise published stories of parents in prison, which the Correctional Association used to educate legislators and community advocates to support passage of New York State’s 2010 law to extend ASFA timelines. Rise writer Chrystal Reddick was featured in a City Limits article and spoke in Albany in support of the bill.
• Rise’s issue on termination of parental rights (TPR) focused on bonds that can’t be broken by a court order, a reality documented by research showing that former foster youth frequently returned to family after foster care and that ‘broken adoptions’ are frequent, leading to a spate of state laws allowing courts to reinstate parents’ legal rights after TPR.
• Today, Rise’s publishing and advocacy around ASFA continues, as activists increasingly demand that this legislation be replaced.