To most parents, there is nothing worse than losing custody of their own children and having them put into foster care or worse, up for adoption.
While it is important to note that family court and local adoption services act in what is seen as being in the best interest of the child, it begs the question, what happens when parents improve their situations?
Why Is Custody of Children Lost?
Typically, parents lose custody of their own children when a history of either abuse or neglect is established.
Many times, this is due to the parents themselves dealing with personal problems like drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues, or unemployment, to the point that it negatively affects the kids.
Children can be taken into custody by CPS, then put into foster homes.
In some cases, adoption lawyers can help these children get into safe, loving homes where they will be nurtured and receive the care they require and deserve.
What if the Situation Changes?
But what happens when biological parents improve themselves?
Lawyers note that many find the act of losing their children to be a necessary wake-up call that they must make some serious changes in their lives.
Until now, there has been no recourse in many situations and parents who have already lost custody of one child have found themselves under even greater risk of having parental rights over any new children severed without being able to prove themselves as worthy, rehabilitated parents.
Without a chance to prove they have improved, many still face having their kids removed by CPS and adoption services once again when the problems may no longer exist.
Laws Have Changed In This Area
Texas H.B. 2924 hopes to change this terrible situation by ensuring that parents are not penalized in the present for mistakes they made in the past.
Current abuse and neglect allegations will naturally be investigated; however, the law removes the bias that many parents face if they have previously had parental rights removed.
Before adoption lawyers can get involved and involuntary removal can happen, parental fitness must be fairly evaluated so that parents no longer needlessly lose their children to foster or adoptive homes.
Parents Now Get A Second Chance
While many states have struck down this new law already, Texas is leading the pack by giving parents who have previously lost the rights to their children a second chance to keep new children or even have lawyers petition to reinstate rights to previous children when they can show that they have improved their circumstances and are no longer an abuse or neglect risk.
Other states have settled somewhere in the middle by placing a time limit on how long past instances can affect a parent’s current rights.
Basically
Texas parents who have had their parental rights severed can contact child custody, family, or adoption lawyers to discuss the possibility of them getting those rights reinstated.