Art. 1004.2 Termination of rights; children in state custody

If a child has been in the state's custody for 17 out of the last 22 months, the state must file a petition to end the parents' legal rights and follow through with it in court. This is meant to prevent kids from staying in foster care indefinitely without a permanent home.

There is one exception. The state does not have to file for termination if it has a good reason not to, and that reason is written down in the child's case plan. The reason has to show that ending parental rights would not be in the child's best interest.

In short, long stays in foster care usually trigger a legal push toward finding the child a permanent family, either by ending the parents' rights so the child can be adopted, or by clearly explaining in writing why that step should wait.