Tennessee
Department of Children’s Services
Division of Training
and Development
Adoption
ØAll children
should have the best possible opportunity to grow up within a safe, nurturing family, wither their biological family or if
that is not possible, within an adoptive
family.
ØThe State
should make reasonable efforts to avoid foster care placement by providing services to preserve the biological family whenever that
is reasonable possible. However, child welfare decision-makers must have the
professional capacity to make determinations
as to when making efforts to preserve the biological family, or leaving the child with that family is neither safe for the child
nor likely to lead to an appropriate result for the
child.
ØFoster care
must be as temporary an arrangement as possible, with its goal being to provide a permanent home for the child as quickly as
possible. In making the determination about what plans and services will best
meet this goal, the child’s interests must
be paramount.
ØChildren in
out-of-home placements must have timely decision-making about where and with whom they will spend their childhood, and timely
implementation of whatever decisions have
been made.
Principle(s)
