Are 60,000 TPRs Necessary?

In this episode, Angela interviews Professor Vivek Sankaran, Director of the Child Advocacy Law and Child Welfare Appellate Clinics at the University of Michigan’s School of Law. Professor Sankaran encourages stakeholders to question whether TPR is in the best interests of as many children as we think it is. He and Angela talk about his article, The ties that bind us: An empirical, clinical, and constitutional argument against terminating parental rights, which found over 60,000 TPRs were granted annually between 2016-2019, despite a declining foster care population. While recognizing TPR is necessary in some cases, he poses some thoughtful questions for others.