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6.3 A Triage Approach

6.3.1 Expedited Termination Cases | 6.3.2 Permanency Risk Cases | 6.3.3 The Majority of Placement Cases

6.3.1 Expedited Termination Cases

Expedited termination involves moving a child's case directly from temporary custody to termination of parental rights and adoption It is appropriate to consider expedited termination when the maltreatment is so severe that efforts to preserve the family should not be made. Such conduct meets the standard set in Illinois law for expedited termination. At the shelter care hearing the child protective service worker must notify the States Attorney that grounds exist for expedited termination of parental rights exist, when there is evidence to support unfitness. The child protective service worker, permanency worker and parents should discuss expedited termination at the time of the transition visit. When this occurs, the caseworker should request a legal screening and the child should be placed with a family committed to permanency. Upon approval at a legal screening, the goal of substitute care pending court determination on termination of parental rights should be selected as the preferred goal. The preferred plan would consist of a set of tasks and activities toward achieving this goal until termination of parental rights is achieved and adoption can be pursued. Alternative goals of private or subsidized guardianship or independence ( for a minor over age 15) may be appropriate in these cases; however each case circumstance must be examined individually. In expedited termination cases, the focus is on the therapeutic needs of the child as related to the maltreatment, transitioning attachments from the birth parents to another caregiving family and closure with the birth parents as meets the needs of the child. The kinds of parental behavior involved in moving to expedited termination are specified in Illinois law. Staff must be able to readily recognize these criteria in case situations.

A summary of the circumstances and situations where expedited termination is required is as follows:

• Extreme and repeated cruelty to the child.
• A finding of physical abuse and criminal conviction of aggravated battery of the child.
• Conviction of the parent for murder of the child's other parent.
• Conviction of the parent for first degree murder.
• Conviction of first or second degree murder of any child.
• Criminal conviction of aggravated sexual assault.
• Criminal conviction for attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder.
• Abandonment of a newborn in a hospital or in another setting where the evidence suggests that the parent intended to relinquish parental rights.
• Incarceration of the parent as a result of a criminal conviction where prior to incarceration the parent was not involved with the child and the parent will be incarcerated for a period of two years after the filing of a termination petition.

The above circumstances mandate screening a case for termination. A more detailed description of these grounds can be found in Appendix A of Policy Guide 98.1.

In addition to the above grounds there are several more which require workers to consider filing for expedited termination:

• Abandonment of a child (other than a newborn)
• Desertion
• Inability to discharge parental responsibility due to mental illness, mental impairment or developmental disability
• A finding that at birth a child was born with a controlled substance in his/her blood or urine and the mother already had one child who was adjudicated a neglected minor provided that mother was offered drug treatment and rehabilitation after the birth of the first child.

In these circumstances, the law gives the worker discretion in filing for termination of parental rights. Effective practice requires that this be examined in supervision and considered based on individual case circumstances. If the worker and supervisor determine it is in the best interest of the child to pursue termination, the case should be screened for termination of the parents' rights. If there is any question about these circumstances, the worker should check Policy Guide 98.1 and seek additional clarification from the supervisor.

6.3.2 Permanency Risk Cases

Rule and Procedure specifies certain criteria that, if present, place a family in a "high risk" category. These families may be referred to as "permanency risk" because their clinical profile suggests that reunification is unlikely. Following is a list of family circumstances that indicate permanency risk:

• The parent has another child for whom parental rights were involuntarily terminated and there have been no significant changes in behavior or conditions in the interim
• A finding that at birth the child's blood or urine contained any amount of a controlled substance
• The family has a history of failing to correct conditions which resulted in maltreatment of a child
• There has been a single severe incident of abuse/neglect
• Abuse or neglect towards a child who is particularly vulnerable given the child's age, developmental stage and/or disability
• Parent has a diagnosable mental illness that renders the parent unable to provide or protect the child
• The parent has a developmental disability which upon assessment indicates that the parent may be unable to provide, protect, or nurture the child and the parent has no other relatives or social supports able or willing to assist in parenting
• A child requires placement and already has a sibling in placement because of the parents' abuse or neglect.

If a case meets the criteria for permanency risk, the caseworker must set the goal at return home within 12 months with a planned achievement date within 12 months. See Chapter 7, Reunification, Section 7.5.1, "Determining the Goal for Permanency Risk Cases."

However, because reunification in these cases is considered unlikely, many of these cases will have an alternative goal of Substitute care pending court determination of termination of parental rights, and an alternative plan involving termination of parental rights and eventual adoption or private guardianship. Some tasks toward the alternative goal may need to be performed concurrently with tasks toward the preferred goal, such as a search for an adoptive resource.

6.3.3 The Majority of Placement Cases

Most cases will not fall into the expedited termination or permanency risk categories. The majority of these cases will have a return home goal. They may or may not have an alternative goal but they will always have an alternative plan. In other words, a goal of "return home within five months" may be selected as the preferred goal but, because it is likely that this goal will be achieved, no alternative goal is selected. However, an alternative plan will be developed in which the preferred goal can be achieved through other means, such as return home to the non-custodial parent. Other cases in this "majority" category will have an alternative goal such as private or subsidized guardianship and an alternative plan. The alternative plan will contain tasks toward achievement of the alternative goal.

6.3.1 Expedited Termination Cases | 6.3.2 Permanency Risk Cases | 6.3.3 The Majority of Placement Cases

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