Due Process Clause Of The Fourteenth Amendment (AFSA)

A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 and the amendment was put in place to protect former slaves and their rights in life. The most important part of the amendment reads, “No state shall ‘deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.’” This simple statement has one of the most profound and incredible parts of the United States today. The equal protection of the laws show that there must be equal treatment for all citizens regardless of race, class, or gender. Although there has been many racial events happening after this amendment was passed this clause still stands to today and has helped shape the United States for the better. Having this clause in the Fourteenth Amendment protects the ‘little guy’ and makes sure that everyone has the same ability to do whatever everyone else is doing.

According to the thirteenth amendment, “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The purpose of the thirteenth amendment was to end slavery or any form of involuntary servitude everywhere among the United States. There was new hope for African Americans throughout the country but unfortunately their freedom had a limit and coincidentally, President Lincoln was assassinated shortly after. Jim Crow laws were established among the states and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the southern states of the United States up until 1965. This is how white southerners

The Court reasoned that the Washington statute violated parents’ rights under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because it stripped them of the autonomy to make best care decisions for their young.

In addition to the areas of ASFA needing improvement included in the evaluation of the law by CSSP, there are many quality recommendations provided to help improve ASFA. While ASFA should remain intact, the recommendations by CSSP that would be most helpful include: focusing on community-based prevention and intervention services to families, increased efforts and supports for reunification, implementing specialized treatment for families dealing with substance abuse, mental illness, or incarceration, reassessing ASFA timelines regarding the termination of parental rights and support for parents to progress, analyzing the child welfare system regarding practices for equality towards the specialized needs of diverse families and children, and committing to widely available and effective post-permanency supports for children (CSSP, 2009).

John A. Bingham, Republican of Ohio had long been a believer in the idea of equal protection of the laws for all people, and was one of the leaders of the effort to pass the Fourteenth Amendment. While aware of the need to prove the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act with the Fourteenth Amendment, Bingham did not actually believe that the Fourteenth Amendment created any new rights. Rather, he believed that it created a new understanding of rights already in the Constitution. Bingham maintained that, “The…equal protection of each [in] those sacred rights which are as universal and indestructible as the human race…are by this Constitution guaranteed…’” The guarantee to which Bingham was referring is contained in the Fifth

The Fourteenth Amendment stopped unlawful actions by states. It also gave Congress the power to enforce the amendment through new laws that benefited and were fair to everyone. The Fourteenth Amendment represents part of the extension of the power of the national government over the states. It has been cited in more court cases than any other part of the Constitution. It made it possible for new legislation that has protected the rights of many throughout the United States and has helped uphold equality.

The plan is then reviewed by the court. For most children, the primary permanency plan is reunification with their birth parents. According to federal law, states must make “reasonable efforts” to provide birth parents with the services and supports they need to regain custody of their children. However, there are exceptions to this requirement. States are not required to pursue reunification under certain conditions. In these circumstances, alternative permanency options such as adoption or legal guardianship are the goal for these

The law also provides Federal Grants to agencies that fall under its guidelines. Many agencies could not exist or be of any benefit to the community without this funding. This law protects children with disabilities, by means that housing that is unique to them be defined with specialized training and equipped to do so. Abandoned infants are a unique situation that is not as easy as one would expect to solve. Even though the “client” is unable to speak for themselves, they still need protection. When dealing with near homeless or homeless families, a human service worker may find they are unsure when to become involved more, which is something that this law will help guide them through. Finally, to protect children all around, it is now apparent that certain jobs that work with children must make their employees subject to background checks.

On any given day there are 428,000 children in the foster care system (“Foster Care.”). Every single child in the foster care system is in the state’s custody and should be protected by the states. Yet, this year in Kansas, the two foster care services providers has admitted to not knowing where some of the children are. Of the seven thousand children in Kansas foster care (The Kansas City editorial staff) KVC Kansas, which is in charge of the eastern region of the state, has owned up to not knowing the whereabouts of thirty-eight children (The Kansas City editorial staff). While the service in charge of the western portion of the state, Saint Francis Community Services, also does not know the whereabouts of thirty-six children. In total that is seventy foster children who are missing (The Kansas City editorial staff). No one knows if the children ran away, if they were abducted or if they are still alive. With children being the United States future, some would think that they would be held in high regard, but with so many uncared for children in foster care they are not. The American Foster Care System is a broken system because of the children’s mental and physical health, how the children leave the system and how this system is controlled.

Most times it’s hard to realize change is needed, the hardest part for most people is realizing what they are doing is wrong and unless one person’s stands up for what’s right no change will be made. Foster Children Bill of Rights and Foster Parent Bill of Rights are designed to inform foster children and foster parents of their rights within the child welfare system. Many children's bill of rights provide that they must be posted in a place where children will see them and include provisions requiring foster children to be informed about why they are in foster care and how the process will proceed (NCLS). Although this is the point of the foster care bill of rights they aren’t being followed. This means that are loop holes within the rights

By the year 1967, all U.S. states had child abuse reporting laws. “Child abuse reporting laws and enhanced awareness of child abuse produced an increase in intervention” (Myers, 2013). As reporting laws came into affect, more and more cases of child abuse and neglect were shown. By the mid 1970s, over 60,000 child abuse cases were reported and the extremely high rate of children in foster care alarmed government officials. In 1980, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA) was passed. This act required every state to make reasonable efforts in keeping children with their families, and when removing the child was not avoidable, the child was required to have a plan to be placed back in the home or have their parents’ rights revoked. For the children whom returning home was not an option, Congress offered financial incentives for adoption. This effort to preserve the families was a main objective of AACWA. An influential investigation pertaining to this was done by Henry S. Mass and Richard E. Engler, as explained by Sribnick (2011). They concluded that many children were living a majority of their childhood years in foster care and institutions. Their findings showed that if a child stayed in foster care for more than a year and a half, it was not likely that he or she would ever be reunited with his or her family or be adopted. In response to this, the Child Welfare League of America lobbied for child welfare workers to consider

In Reel v. Harrison, 118 Nev. 881; 60 P.3d 480; 2002 Nev., “First Judicial District Court affirmed the trial court’s determination that § 125C.200 violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by restricting a custodial parent's fundamental right to travel. The trial court also concluded that even if § 125C.200 was constitutional, the mother was still permitted to relocate the minor child to New Jersey, based on the career and educational opportunities available... and the ability to maintain reasonable visitation with the father”.

In our government today we have due process of law. Due process of law simply means that we have protection against a chance deprivation of life, liberty or property. Within the due process law, if you are to be accused of something it has to be under fair and reasonable circumstances. If we are ever to be arrested of something, under due process it commands that we are taken to court and showed a cause. It is very important that we have due process in the law for the people of the United States. Law enforcement always requires the balancing of two competing social concerns: on one hand, is the government's interest in protecting its citizens and prosecuting criminal conduct; on the other hand, is the right of

Where then children go, depends on the situation at hand. For example, the children may be placed with different relatives, a foster home, a residential treatment facility, a group home, or etc. But, the ultimate goal is to reunite the children with their parent(s). In order to fulfill this goal, there are several steps that the parents have to take in order to get placement back with the children. These steps have to be taken in order for the DCS system to know that the children will be safe, if decided that placement back with the parent(s) is the most helpful option, especially for the children. These steps help insure that the quality of the parent(s) lives is stable enough to raise a child because there was obviously a reason why the children were taken away from the parent(s) in the first place. These rules are trying to protect the children from the abuse or neglect given off by the parents.