The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Amendments of 1996 confronted problems related to the safety of a child once it has been discovered that they have been subjected to abuse. In many instances, children who were suffering from one of the various types of abuse were not being removed from their home or their parents continued to maintain parental rights over the child for a period of time that was unacceptable.
Delaying the abolition of parental rights in cases of child abuse can be detrimental to the child and may interfere with child abuse treatment. The 1996 Amendments required that states establish an accelerated procedure for the termination of parental rights, specifically in situations in which a parent abandons the child.
