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Children deserve more love in their lives, not less.

Enact the Preserving Family Bonds Act

The Preserving Family Bonds Act gives children the opportunity to see their parents after the termination of parental rights when this is in the child's best interests.

View the New York State Bill ( A4940)

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Preserving Family Bonds is about:

Children's Rights

Racial Justice

Identity

Reproductive Justice

Family

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 “I was told if I communicated with [my mom], she and I can both get in trouble."

— Tatianna, Young Person Impacted by the Termination of Parental Rights

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What you need to know about the foster system.

Children are often placed in the foster system after being separated from their parents because of allegations of neglect or abuse. The foster system includes placements with non-relatives, or in group homes and shelters. The vast majority of children in the foster system were not separated from their parents because of abuse, but because poverty is mistaken for neglect. 

When a child is in the foster system, the parent and child almost always have regular, on-going visitation and contact. This is because frequent, high-quality visits are understood to be highly beneficial for children in the system.

A common misconception is that the foster system saves children who would not otherwise have a family. This is not true. Most children in the system have a strong desire to return home and a family who is fighting to make that happen.

CLICK THE ITEMS BELOW TO LEARN MORE.

The system mistakes poverty for neglect.

Separating children from their parents is harmful.

The foster system disproportionately impacts Black and Latine families.

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"Being a parent is one of the most wonderful gifts that you can have in life: interacting with part of you, seeing your child grow, showing them love and sensitivity. This has nothing to do with where you live or how much money you make. Not having the resources or the means that other people may have does not make you a bad parent."

— Cassandra Gonzalez, Program Support Manager at Rise Magazine & Parent Impacted by the Termination of Parental Rights

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What is the termination of parental rights?

After a child is in the foster system for 12 months, the system can move to terminate a parent’s rights. The termination of parental rights ends the legal relationship between a parent and child, allowing a child to be adopted without the consent of their parents. 

Many children whose parent's rights are terminated still have crucial emotional relationships with their parents. However, New York law operates under a fiction that terminating a parent’s legal rights also terminates the emotional relationship between a parent and a child.  Because New York law does not allow a court to order continuing contact, termination of parental rights can make it impossible for children to stay connected to their parents, communities, and culture.

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“For years, parents may be visiting with their children two or three times a week. They may have these visits out in the community - at the library, at the park, or in their homes. They may spend birthdays and holidays together. Eating snacks and doing homework together. And still, a court can move to terminate their rights.”

— Nila Natarajan, Supervising Attorney & Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defenders' Family Defense Practice

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The current law hurts children.

Family separation inflicts immeasurable and often irreparable harm on children. Experts relay that they see children processing family separation as profound grief, similar to processing the death of a loved one. The consequences of this grief can include anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

For children in the foster system, the right to regular visits with their parents can be a vital source of love, stability, and healing. These visits are a reminder to children that they are loved. Studies agree that children in the system fare much better when they are able to maintain these familial bonds. Yet, after a year - or more - of visits with their families, the involuntary termination of their parent's rights can abruptly deny children the right to contact, speak to, and see their parents.

When a child is adopted, failure to acknowledge a child’s bond to their parents can make that transition much more challenging. When a parent’s rights are involuntarily terminated, children may feel that their parents gave up, or did not love them enough to care for them.  This is rarely the case, as the majority of parents never stop fighting for their children.  However, by denying children the ability to contact their parents, the law denies children the ability to know that they are loved. This leaves children without reason to trust that the love they receive in their adoptive home will be permanent – as the only family they've ever known was taken from them.

Children impacted by the system are left without answers to the questions that form the foundations of personal identity: Where do I come from? Is my family of origin safe? Does my family of origin love me?

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And the current law hurts parents.

A parent threatened with the termination of their rights has two options. 

Option 1: Go to trial to fight the termination.

If a parent loses at trial, the state will terminate their parental rights - allowing their child to be adopted without their consent and making it nearly impossible for them to see their child.

Option 2: Give up their rights.

If a parent gives up their rights, they allow the state to place their child for adoption in exchange for the opportunity to negotiate minimal, court-ordered visits with their child.

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Parents who choose to fight the termination at trial and lose will have their parental rights involuntarily terminated. When rights are terminated, a child may immediately lose their right to contact their parent - and under current law, New York judges are not allowed to order contact between a child and their parent after the termination of parental rights - even if this is in the child's best interests. 

Many parents with excellent legal arguments against the termination of their rights will still choose to give up their rights in lieu of a trial because the only alternative is to risk the permanent loss of a relationship with their child. This threat effectively coerces many parents into giving up their rights.

Despite the life-altering impact of these outcomes, a child has no say in these decisions.

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“I feel the pain of losing the rights to parent my first child everyday. My second child is in my care at home–but I am constantly afraid that they are going to take him away too. I wouldn’t want any parent to experience the pain that I’ve gone through.” 

— Cassandra Gonzalez, Program Support Manager at Rise Magazine & Parent Impacted by the Termination of Parental Rights

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"The human experience of losing your parental rights is devastating. It's like they snatched away my soul."

— D'Juan, Advocate & Parent Impacted by the Termination of Parental Rights

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What can we do?

Pass the Preserving Family Bonds Act

The Preserving Family Bonds Act is simple. It allows a judge to order contact between a child and their parent after the termination of parental rights when this is in the best interests of the child.

FACTS AND MYTHS →

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Preserving Family Bonds is about:

Children's Rights 

This legislation reflects a growing national consensus that openness in adoption is beneficial for children. Preserving family bonds can have tremendous impacts on a child’s psychological development, self-esteem, identity formation, and overall mental health and well-being.

Family  

Studies show that openness in adoption is beneficial for all members of the adoptive family. When children are able to build positive relationships with their biological families, their adoptive and foster families benefit, too.

Reproductive Justice 

Reproductive justice requires that we are free from state control and coercion in making decisions about our bodies and our families. This system coerces parents into making life-changing decisions about their families. This bill addresses this by giving parents increased power and autonomy in their decision-making.

Racial Justice 

Black children make up 14% of the general child population, but  23% of children in the foster system, where they generally receive less services than white children. This bill allows children to stay connected to their families, support systems, and communities while navigating a discriminatory system.

Identity

By allowing children the opportunity to maintain contact with their families, this bill will help children reconcile pieces of their identity, including language, food, and religion, and promotes the exchange of critical family and medical health information. Making these connections are vital to a young person's ability developing a young person’s sense of self and well-being.

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“We have this concept that the adoptive family is a ‘forever family’, but what child would believe that an adoptive family is their forever family if the only experience of family that they’ve had was one that got arbitrarily ended? My kids have me and my partner, their birth moms, and their siblings forever. That is permanency. They need to know that relationships continue."

— Amy Mulzer, Adoptive Parent

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“Some people say that court-ordered contact threatens the stability and permanency of adoptive homes, but our experience actually leads us to believe that the opposite is true. This bill could lead to greater stability and permanency for adopted children by eliminating the conflict that often develops when children wish to maintain contact with their biological families against the wishes of their adoptive parent.” 

— Betsy Kramer, Director of Special Litigation at Lawyers For Children

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“Relational permanence for children in the foster system is important in predicting a wide variety of positive outcomes for youth. While parent-child relationships are complex and can be imperfect, they are still vitally important for positive developmental outcomes."

— Dr. Abigail Williams-Butler, Assistant Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work

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In the News

The “Death Penalty” of Child Welfare: In Six Months or Less, Some Parents Lose Their Kids Forever

ProPublica

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Hochul Urged To Sign Bill For Parents Who Risk Losing All Contact With Their Kids

Gothamist

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Commentary: Support children by signing Preserving Family Bonds Act

Times Union

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2 Officials Who Were Both Adopted Clash Over an Adoption Law

New York Times

Read

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WATCH

Preserving Family Bonds Virtual Teach-In

In December of 2022, adoptive parents and parent advocates, judges, child development experts, attorneys for children, and parent defenders came together to share why they support the Preserving Family Bonds Act.

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The Preserving Family Bonds Coalition