The 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) incentivizes States to terminate parental rights and accelerate adoption at the expense of the rights and best interests of parents and removed children. The ASFA does this by offering States funding for each adopted foster child.
This report explores civil assessment fees, a type of poverty penalty charged to people who miss a deadline to pay or appear in court. One of the highest and most common fees in California, it is a $300 hidden fee charged to people in cases involving anything from a traffic ticket to a felony.
