Dan Coats: “This section is intended to give the States flexibility in this area by not requiring them to seek to reunify a parent…”

“This section is intended to give the States flexibility in this area by not requiring them to seek to reunify a parent convicted of a serious and violent crime against his child, with that surviving child or other children. States may still seek to reunify the family but will no longer be required to do so by Federal law. Second, the bill provides that these very serious crimes should be grounds in State law for the termination of parental rights. Any decision, however, to terminate parental rights, even in these cases, is entirely a State issue and remains so under this bill.”