Reasonable Efforts to Preserve or Reunify Families and Achieve Permanency for Children

Reasonable Effortsto Preserve orReunify Families andAchieve Permanencyfor Children
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Reasonable efforts refer to activities of State social
services agencies that aim to provide the assistance
and services needed to preserve and reunify
families.
These services may include family therapy, parenting
classes, drug and alcohol abuse treatment, respite care, parent
support groups, and home visiting programs. Some commonly
used terms associated with reasonable efforts include “family
reunification,” “family preservation,” “family support,” and
“preventive services.”1

Federal law has long required State agencies to demonstrate
that reasonable efforts have been made to provide assistance
and services to prevent the removal of a child from his or her
home and to make it possible for a child who has been placed in
out-of-home care to be reunited with his or her family.2

3 States must comply with the requirements outlined in ASFA as a condition for receiving
certain Federal funds.

Comment: Then why are the States still getting Title IV funding when there are NO Reasonable effort's made by CPS, nor Services to these families?