They live in a state (Massachusetts) with a healthy economy, very
strong educational, health and
social welfare system, and that ranks at the top in the United States on indicators positively associated with child wellbeing (AECF, 2013).
Policy Generally speaking, the legal framework for thinking about child rearing creates a
strong presumption in policy that favors parents» rights to raise their children.6 This attitude is reflected in three major pieces of
social legislation governing the nation's child
welfare system: the Indian Child
Welfare Act of 1978, the Adoption Assistance and Child
Welfare Act of 1980, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997.7