Legislature asked to OK rules to speed adoptions

Currently, if the biological mother or father appeals the termination of parental rights, the appeals process can take as long as two years.

That leaves children stuck in limbo.

“We think (the wait) is a major impediment to achieving a permanent home for our kids,” said Carla Aaron, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services.

There are about 10,300 children in foster homes in the state, Aaron said. The biological parents of 62 children are appealing decisions to terminate their rights, she said.

Speeding up appeals is crucial because children need permanency and they need it as quickly as possible, said Nashville attorney Bob Tuke, who has handled many adoptions.

“There’s been a statute since 1995 requiring all termination of parental-rights cases to be expedited and the appeals of those cases to be expedited,” he said. “Has it helped? Not really.”

This is much more significant because the Supreme Court is adopting it as a rule of appellate procedure, he said.

“The idea of expediting appeals is absolutely critical,” Tuke said. “I applaud the judiciary for doing this. The Tennessee Supreme Court has done a wonderful thing, and I trust the Legislature to recognize that and ratify that.”

In part, the rule would reduce the amount of time that judges, attorneys and others have to act in such cases, and it requires a timely decision if a biological parent believes his or her rights were violated.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider the rule Tuesday. The rule will be effective July 1, if lawmakers approve.

Sunny and Henry Thomas hope it will help other families.

The couple had hoped by now to be in the final stages of adopting two children that the state placed in their Williamson County home. They already have five children, three of them adopted.

But the children’s biological mother whose parental rights were terminated by a judge is taking her case to the state Court of Appeals. The couple already has waited six anxiety-filled months.

“Even though we feel like the termination will be upheld, there’s still that unknown there,” Sunny Thomas told The Tennessean. “And the longer it drags on, the harder it is on our family, on us, on the kids.”