What is an "orphan"?

What is an "orphan"?

Jennifer Perry (Executive Director, Children's Action Network) gives expert video advice on: Under what circumstances does a child become "custody of the state"?; Are foster parents the same as adoptive parents?; What happens to children who aren't adopted? and more...

The term "orphan" is, in the United States, somewhat antiquated. What's changed is that children whose parental rights terminated because they are moving from foster care to being adopted are actually legal orphans for a moment. However, the system tries to avoid creating orphans, as they tend not to terminate the biological parents' rights until the foster child is placed in an adoptive home. They know once they have severed the legal relationship between the child and their biological parents, there is in place the process that will create a new family, and legal family relationship for that child, so that they are not an orphan.