SUPPORT NETWORK

The Pro.Social Network of Service Providers provides alternatives to separation by forming a safety net of organizations, mobilized to give children and their families the social capital necessary to help them stay together.

PRO.SOCIAL NETWORK OF SERVICE PROVIDERS

Reasonable Efforts to Preserve or Reunify Families and Achieve Permanency for Children

“Reasonable efforts” refers to activities of State social services agencies that aim to provide the assistance and services needed to preserve and reunify families.

Laws in all States, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands require that child welfare agencies make reasonable efforts to provide services that will help families remedy the conditions that brought the child and family into the child welfare system. The statutes in most States use a broad definition of what constitutes reasonable efforts. Generally, these efforts consist of accessible, available, and culturally appropriate services that are designed to improve the capacity of families to provide safe and stable homes for their children. These services may include family therapy, parenting classes, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, respite care, parent support groups, and home visiting programs. Some commonly used terms associated with reasonable efforts include “family reunification,” “family preservation,” “family support,” and “preventive services.”¹

When Reasonable Efforts Are Required

Federal law has long required State agencies to demonstrate that reasonable efforts have been made to provide assistance and services to prevent the removal of a child from his or her home and to make it possible for a child who has been placed in out-of-home care to be reunited with his or her family. “Reasonable efforts” are made when the child and his or her family are provided with services that are relevant to their situation, which may include:

Child care

Homemaker services

Individual, group, and family counseling

Health-care services

Behavioral health evaluation and treatmentƒ

Drug and alcohol abuse counseling

Parent education

Vocational counseling

Community-based family support services that promote the safety and well-being of children and families also may be offered. These services are designed to:

Increase family strength and stability

Increase parent confidence and competence

Afford children safe, stable, and supportive family environments

Enhance child development

In many States, the statutes also require that when a court determines that family reunification is not in the best interests of the child efforts should be made to finalize another permanent placement for the child. Under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA), while reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify families are still required, the child’s health and safety constitute the paramount concern in determining the extent to which reasonable efforts should be made.³

This BLOG (https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/reunify.pdf) is a product of the State Statutes Series prepared by Child Welfare Information Gateway.