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All About Bonding

All articles specifically pertaining to bonding are collected on this page. These articles are originally from the Topics and Legal Resource Center pages.

  • There's No Place Like a Permanent Home (PDF version for printing)
    Every child has the right to a permanent home. Caseworkers need to begin as soon as the child is removed from the parental home with a reunification plan, set deadlines for the completion of the required corrections, follow up, and have zero tolerance for delay. One year is already too long a time in the life of a child to be in temporary care.
  • The Importance of Bonding In Legal Decisions Affecting Foster Children (PDF version for printing)
    Bonding has often been ill-defined. Mental health professionals have been vague and fuzzy, giving opinion rather than data, generalizations rather than facts. As a result, courts and case managers may not have given bonding the critical consideration it deserves.
  • Who Is My Brother? Who Is My Sister? When Siblings Should and Should Not Be Separated (PDF version for printing)
    “The bond between siblings is often the longest lasting relationship most people have, and these bonds help children develop their own unique personal identity throughout their lifetime.” (Indiana DFC Child Welfare Manual: 403.33) When children must be removed from a birth home for cause, every effort should be made to keep the siblings together. Problems arise when children have remained for six months or more in a foster/adopt home and may have bonded with their new parents, brothers and sisters.
  • Bonding Is a Vital Issue: Appellate Courts Agree (PDF version for printing)
    Bonding has too often been loosely defined. Mental health professionals, in their reports, have been vague and fuzzy, offering opinion rather than data, generalizations rather than facts. As a result, courts and case managers may not have given bonding the critical consideration it deserves. Includes references.
  • Presenting Bonding in Court (PDF version for printing)
    Foster parents need legal representation when they wish to adopt. Unfortunately, many have been hesitant to speak out for fear of being labeled as troublemakers. The opposite may be true. Foster parents who are appropriately assertive are more apt to be fully heard.
  • Everything You Need to Know About Bonding (PDF version for printing)
    Bonding, when it occurs, is critical to a child’s development. The disruption of a bonded relationship does considerable damage. The presentation and proof of bonding between the child and the foster/adopt parents may be the strongest argument for keeping them together, especially in a contested adoption. The problem for attorneys is to define bonding and to prove in a factual and evidentiary way that bonding has taken place. Includes references.
  • What Happens When Bonded Relationships Are Interrupted (PDF version for printing)
    Interrupting or severing bonded relationships takes a heavy toll on human health and well-being. It is as serious as brain surgery, death or divorce. The younger the child and the deeper the bond, the more devastating the result. Includes references.
  • Additional References for Bonding and Attachment