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Termination of parental rights ("TPR") ends the parent–child relationship though a process governed by state law. As a recent analysis of federal data revealed, TPR rates vary widely by state. In West Virginia, the TPR rate was 283 per 100,000. In New York State, the focus of this article, there were approximately 30 TPRs for every 100,000 children in 2014. Within New York State, TPR rates vary by county. In this exploratory piece, we analyze TPR rates in New York by county, noting discrepancies and seeking possible explanations for these variations, including possible effects of income disparities, single‐parent households, poor mental health, binge drinking, and drug addiction. This is an initial exploration only, and is not intended to be a rigorous quantitative study. Rather, our scope arises from what we have noticed from front line practice. It is our hope that researchers will use our exploratory findings for extended analysis, including analysis of TPR data from other states. Practitioner's Key Points:In New York State, there are approximately 30 TPRs for every 100,000 children.TPR rates vary widely across New York's counties.Possible explanations for high incidence of TPR in certain counties include: income disparities, single‐parent households, poor mental health, binge drinking, and drug addiction.Our analysis is qualitative, based on our experiences in front line practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides county-level estimates of the cumulative prevalence of four levels of Child Protective Services (CPS) contact using administrative data from the 20 most populous counties in the United States. Rates of CPS investigation are extremely high in almost every county. Racial and ethnic inequality in case outcomes is large in some counties. The total median investigation rate was 41.3%; the risk for Black, Hispanic, and White children exceeded 20% in all counties. Risks of having a CPS investigation were highest for Black children (43.2 to 72.0%). Black children also experienced high rates of later-stage CPS contact, with rates often above 20% for confirmed maltreatment, 10% for foster care placement, and 2% for termination of parental rights (TPR). The only other children who experienced such extreme rates of later-stage CPS interventions were American Indian/Alaska Native children in Middlesex, MA; Hispanic children in Bexar, TX; and all children except Asian/Pacific Islander children in Maricopa, AZ. The latter has uniquely high rates of late-stage CPS interventions. In some jurisdictions, such as New York, NY, (0.2%) and Cook, IL (0.2%), very few children experienced TPR. These results show that early CPS interventions are ubiquitous in large counties but with marked variation in how CPS systems respond to these investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the factors that New York courts consider when making person legally responsible (PLR) determinations involving the care of children under the New York Family Court Act, and it mentions the New York Court of Appeals' ruling in the case In re Trenasia J. which deals with the legal rights of a child's uncle. The legal rights and obligations of a child's parents, stepparents, and babysitters are examined, along with a child's guardian and the termination of parental rights.