
Some laws are built on false premises, and revamping them can take a long time. The federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton on November 19, 1997, is one such law.
On its 25th anniversary later this month, family advocates are pressing for a thorough overhaul of the harmful system built on ASFA's faulty premise: that cutting kids off from their families and "freeing" foster children for adoption is better than reunifying them with parents who love them.