Adoption effectively reduces the risk of antisocial outcome in children of abusive or neglectful parents, but its effects diminish the longer a child's adoptive placement is delayed. The legal system, the social service community, the behavioral science community, and ethicists should come together to establish a true working definition of what constitutes child neglect. Providing food and refraining from physical or sexual battery do not constitute good enough parenting. Parents who are routinely intoxicated, who habitually lie to their children, who fail to show up for scheduled visitations, or who undermine appropriate supporter treatment services, should not be given the luxury of time for reform that has typically been afforded them. For the voiceless children awaiting adoptive placement, time is a quiet enemy.
Time is of the essence.
Early intervention needs a fair try.