TPR and Education Level 1 Termination of Parental Rights and Education Level of Parents: A Statistical Correlation

Termination of parental rights is an extreme step in finding permanency for children. It is not one that is taken lightly. The Adoption Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 mandated that states obtain permanency for children in foster care after they had been in state’s custody 15 out of 22 months. By implementing this legislation child protective services workers have had to thoroughly assess cases that meet the criteria for ASFA and then determine whether or not to file a petition for termination of parental rights. After much consideration a trend seemed to be developing with cases that termination of parental rights was sought. It appeared several of the cases had one thing in common, the parent’s level of education completed. It appeared that a high number of parents whose parental rights were terminated did not have a high school education. This study looks at the correlation between a person’s level of education and the likelihood that their parental rights will be terminated if their child enters foster care. The sample size for this research project was small and taken from the caseload of only one child protective services worker. Future studies should take a broader approach at sampling size to make a better estimate at whether a person’s level of education has any effect on whether their parental rights are terminated when their child enters foster care