What role does the legal system -- family courts and judges, for instance -- play in child-welfare decisions?

While juvenile and family courts do have jurisdiction over child welfare cases, their role varies widely from state to state. Under ASFA, however, each jurisdiction must file a petition with the appropriate court when the decision is made to remove a child from his or her home, and the court must find that it is "contrary to the welfare" of the child to remain in the home. ASFA further stipulates that states must secure judicial rulings regarding the "reasonable efforts" it undertook to prevent a child's removal from his or her home, and the appropriateness of the child welfare agency's permanency plan. Some, however, question whether this model gives caseworkers and child welfare agencies too much influence. "This is not a system of law that operates like most others, in which there is an understanding that an independent fact finder, the judge, is to play the prominent role in what happens," asserts Guggenheim of NYU. "Instead, child welfare is seen mostly as case management, and ...  more