CINA and TPR in Maryland: What Foster Parents Need to Know

Most foster parents learn what CINA means during their first PRIDE session or after their first placement call. By then, the child in their care already has an active CINA case moving through the Maryland courts, and the resource parent is expected to show up informed.

CINA — Child in Need of Assistance — is the legal designation Maryland courts assign when a child has been abused, neglected, or when their parents are unable to provide proper care due to circumstances like incarceration, addiction, or untreated mental illness. It is the foundational legal status for almost every child in Maryland's foster care system.

Understanding how the CINA process works, and where foster parents fit into it, is not optional. It shapes the timeline for everything: how long the child stays in your home, when reunification might happen, and whether the case moves toward termination of parental rights and adoption.

How a Child Becomes CINA

The process begins with a report to the local LDSS or law enforcement. If Child Protective Services investigates and finds that the child is at imminent risk, the LDSS can ask the court for an emergency removal. Within 24 hours of removal, the case is heard at a Shelter Care Hearing, where a judge determines whether the child should remain in emergency placement or be returned home while services are arranged.

The formal CINA determination happens later:

Adjudicatory Hearing (within 30–60 days of removal): The court hears evidence and determines whether the child meets the legal definition of CINA. If the court makes a CINA finding, the child is formally in the state's care. This is distinct from the emergency removal — it is the court's judicial finding on the merits.

Disposition Hearing (same day as adjudication, or shortly after): The court establishes the child's placement — typically the resource home where they have already been staying — and sets out the service requirements for the birth parents. These requirements become the roadmap for reunification. The court also establishes ongoing reporting requirements for the LDSS.

Review Hearings (every 6 months): The court reviews the birth parents' progress, the child's well-being in placement, and whether the current plan is still appropriate. As a resource parent, you have the right to submit a written report to the court at each review hearing and to be heard orally if you request it.

Permanency Planning Hearing (within 11 months of initial commitment): This is the most consequential hearing in the CINA timeline. Maryland law requires this hearing within 11 months of the child's initial removal — not 11 months from when you licensed or when the child was placed with you. At this hearing, the court must determine the child's permanent plan: whether reunification remains the goal, or whether the plan should change to adoption, guardianship, or another permanent arrangement.

What Happens If Reunification Fails

If the birth parents do not meet the service requirements established at disposition — staying sober, completing counseling, securing housing, or whatever else the plan required — the LDSS will recommend changing the permanency goal at the 11-month hearing.

If the court agrees that reunification is no longer in the child's best interest, and if the child has been in out-of-home placement for 15 of the most recent 22 months, the LDSS is required to file a petition for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) unless there is a compelling reason not to (such as the child being placed with a relative who does not want to adopt).

TPR proceedings under Family Law Article §5-320 can be contested by the birth parents. If they contest, there will be a TPR hearing where both sides present evidence. If they do not contest or if the court finds TPR is in the child's best interest, the court issues the TPR order. The child then has no legal parents and is free to be adopted.

Timeline from removal to TPR finalization: In straightforward cases, roughly 18 to 30 months. In contested cases with delays, 3 to 5 years is not uncommon.

Foster Parent Rights in CINA Proceedings

Maryland law is explicit: resource parents have specific statutory rights throughout the CINA process.

Right to notice. You must be notified of all scheduled court hearings related to the child in your care. Caseworkers are required to provide at least 10 days' notice before CINA proceedings. If your caseworker is not providing notice consistently, you have the right to contact the court directly and request it.

Right to be heard. You can submit a written report to the judge at any review or permanency hearing. You can also request to speak at the hearing. This does not mean you control the case or the plan — that authority rests with the court and the LDSS — but your observations about the child's daily life, development, and needs carry weight with judges who see the child only briefly during hearings.

Right to notice before removal. If the LDSS plans to move the child from your home, they must give you reasonable written notice unless the child is at imminent risk of harm. This gives you the opportunity to address any concerns or to request an administrative review.

No right to be a party. Resource parents are not legal parties to CINA cases. That status belongs to the child, the birth parents, and the LDSS. Your right to "be heard" is participation, not party status. You cannot hire an attorney to represent your interests in the CINA case itself, though you can consult an attorney about your rights independently.

Maryland-Specific Terminology You Need to Know

CINA: Child in Need of Assistance. The child's formal legal status.

COMAR: Code of Maryland Regulations. Title 07 governs the Department of Human Services and resource home requirements.

LDSS: Local Department of Social Services. Your county's DSS office, not the state DHS.

CJAMS: Child, Juvenile, and Adult Management System. Maryland's current case management platform (replaced CHESSIE). Resource parents use this to document visits and access placement records.

Restricted Caregiver: A relative licensed specifically for a particular child in their family, as opposed to a general resource home license.

Trial Home Visit: A supervised period where the child transitions back to the birth home before the CINA case is officially closed. The child is still technically in state custody during this phase.

FCCIP: Maryland's Foster Care Court Improvement Program, which has worked since 1994 to streamline CINA proceedings and improve outcomes for children in care.

What to Expect at Permanency Hearings

Permanency hearings are shorter than most people expect — typically 15 to 30 minutes — but the decisions made there affect the child's entire trajectory. As a resource parent, the most effective thing you can do is submit a written report to the judge through your caseworker or the child's attorney at least a week before the hearing.

Your report should cover:

• The child's current well-being, school performance, and health
• Any behavioral progress or concerns since the last hearing
• The quality of visitation with birth parents, from your observation
• Your stated interest in long-term placement or adoption, if relevant

Judges receive stacks of paperwork before every hearing. A clear, factual, one-page report from the resource parent — the person who sees the child every day — stands out.

For a complete guide to Maryland's CINA proceedings, the permanency hearing timeline, and resource parent rights at each stage, the Maryland Foster Care Licensing Guide covers the full legal process alongside the licensing requirements.

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