How 'Reasonable Efforts' Leads to Emotional and Legal Permanence

AuthorBob FriendKelly Beck
Pages249-287
HOW “REASONABLE EFFORTS” LEADS TO EMOTIONAL
AND LEGAL PERMANENCE
BOB FRIEND AND KELLY BECK
“Hidden within the landmark legislation were two words that, over the
years, would come to summarize the expectations of the law, typify its
vagueness, and predict its controversy‘reasonable efforts.’1
I.!ABOUT THE AUTHORS
The authors of this article, Bob Friend, LCSW, and Kelly Beck, JD,
collectively have over sixty years of experience working with children,
youth, and families.2 They have each spent the majority of their professional
careers dedicated to learning, training, coaching, and inspiring
“permanency.”3 For the last six years, they have worked togeth er at the
National Institute of Permanent Family Connectedness (NIPFC)4 to train and
coach professionals in child welfare agencies, court systems, and other
partner agencies on how to reduce the time youth spend in care, increase
Copyright © 2016, Bob Friend & Kelly Beck.
1 Wendy Whiting Blome, Reasonable Efforts, Unreasonable Effects: A Retrospective
Analysis of the Reasonable EffortsClause in the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare
Act of 1980, 23 J. SOC. & SOC. WELFARE 133, 134 (1996). See also 42 U.S.C.
§ 671(a)(15)(B)(i)(ii) (2012) (“[R]easonable efforts shall be made to preserve and reunify
familesprior to the placement of a child in foster care, to prevent or eliminate the need for
removing the child from the child’s home; and to make it possible for a child to safely return
to the child’s home . . . .”).
2 See Trainer and Staff Bios, NATL INST. FOR PERMANENT FAM. CONNECTEDNESS,
http://www.familyfinding.org/trainings/trainer-bios.html [https://perma.cc/JF25-4H74].
3 See More About Family Finding, NATL INST. FOR PERMANENT FAM. CONNECTEDNESS,
http://www.familyfinding.org/moreaboutfamilyfinding.html [https://perma.cc/QS3T-3YF9]
(“Although physical legal permanence is an explicit outcome for most cases, Family Finding
defines permanency as a state of permanent belonging, which includes knowledge of personal
history and identity, as well as a range of involved and supportive adults rather than just one
legal resource.”); NRCPFC Web-based Practice Toolkits, NATL RESOURCE CTR. FOR
PERMANENCY & FAM. CONNECTIONS, http://www.nrcpfc.org/projects-and-products.html
[https://perma.cc/MCD5-L2UY].
4 See generally NIPFC, NATL INST. FOR PERMANENT FAM. CONNECTEDNESS,
http://familyfinding.org [https://perma.cc/A5VN-H65H].
250 CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [45:249
permanency outcomes, and involve “family5 early and often in permanency
planning.6
Both Bob and Kelly have witnessed, first hand, how child welfare
systems7 have come together in an effort to create better outcomes for the
families and youth they serve.8 They have witnessed how one person can
affect a child’s travel through the child welfare system b y being relentless
in the quest for permanency.9 It is with great pleasure and pride that the
authors subm it this article to all professionals who work within the child
welfare system. It is their hope that this article will be informative and
inspirational for those professionals as well as others newly introduced to or
aspiring to work within the child welfare system.
II.!INTRODUCTION
This article intends to holistically review the opportunities and actions
of the entire child welfare system in order to improve the experience and
outcomes of the children and families it was intended to serve. More
specifically, the au thors w ill w eave together the leadership and oversight
provided by courts via reasonable efforts findings with the innovative
practices that child welfare agencies, advocates, and partners can take in
between hearings to advance and secure the safety, permanence, and well-
being of the children, parents, family members, and communities they
serve.10
5 As used throughout this article, the term “family” includes all biological family
members, important connections for children and youth, non-related extended family
members, and others. As used in Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) matters, familyalso
includes “extended family member[s].25 U.S.C. § 1903 (2012).
6 See generally NIPFC Trainings, NATL INST. FOR PERMANENT FAM. CONNECTEDNESS,
http://www.familyfinding.org/trainings/trainings_NIPFC.html [https://perma.cc/A3R3-
EPW9].
7Child welfare systems refer to child welfare agencies, judicial officers, court
personnel, attorneys, court appointed special advocates (CASA), service providers, parents,
and children. See How the Child Welfare System Works (Fact Sheet), COMPREHENSIVE
YOUTH SERVICES FRESNO (May 8, 2012), http://cysfresno.org/how-the-child-welfare-system-
works-fact-sheet [https://perma.cc/7R6M-HN24].
8 The authors have worked with communities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, and
California among others. These communities have brought together their legal, child welfare,
probation, service providers, and foster family agencies to develop Family Finding and
Engagement strategies. See Children’s Home Society of North Carolina, York County Family
Finding Conference, VIMEO (2013), https://vimeo.com/64070556 [https://perma.cc/T6DG-
3PTA].
9 Based upon personal accounts shared by attendees during field trainings conducted by
both authors.
10 CHILD WELFARE INFO. GATEWAY, How the Child Welfare System Works 1 (Feb. 2013),
https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/cpswork.pdf [https://perma.cc/H7C8-LD8G].
2017] REASONABLE EFFORTS 251
The article will begin by reviewing some of the history of the reasonable
efforts requirements and further clarify the true intent of this enabling
legislation,11 followed by discussion of how the child welfare system has
often missed the opportunities contained within the vague definition of the
requirements.12 The authors will then outline how the court can ensure that
the “efforts” presented in clude the identification, enga gement, and
involvement of family members.13 The article will further describe the types
of efforts or innovative child welfare practices that have been created to
improve relationships with youth, parents, and family members by
increasing their trust in and promoting their partnership with the child
welfare system.14 These practices are designed to resolve the safety issues
that prevent c hildren from le aving foster care , while attending to the
loneliness and lack of permanency options for m any children in care.
The proposed “reasonable efforts” methodology (hereinafter
methodology) presented in this article focuses on what can be accomplished
between each of the hearings where a reasonable efforts finding is required,
so that the child or youth is moving closer to being connected with and raised
within a committed, supportive, permanent family.15 Viewing the time
between hearings as an opportunity to implement evidence-based and
promising family engagement strategies will allow the court to more
effectively review all efforts employed to create a pathway home for each
child or youth.
Finally, the article will detail the responsibilities and opportunities for
key child welfare system participants to contribute to the identification,
engagement, and involvement of family members in the matters concerning
their kin.16 Their activities toward this goal should be presented to the court
as evidence of reasonable efforts.
A.!Clarifying Reasonable Efforts17
In 1980, Congress passed the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare
Act (The Act).18 The Act sought to address several issues that Congress
11 See infra Sections II.A, II.B.
12 See infra Sections II.C, II.D.
13 See infra Sections II.D, II.E.
14 See infra Section II.E, Part III.
15 See infra Part III.
16 See infra Part IV.
17 In ICWA matters, the term “active efforts” is used to describe remedial services,
rehabilitative programs, and preventive measures. See 25 U.S.C. § 1912(d) (2012).
18 Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-272, 94 Stat. 500
(1980) (codified in scattered sections of 42 U.S.C.).

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