I guess I'm not entirely clear on where you're getting the "if an adoption isn't approved by the end of four years" thing. It might be that my brain has been sucked dry by work today, and my reading comprehension is broken, so apologies if that's the case.
The thing is, the kids won't go back to bio family if bio family has been deemed unfit. The four year mark makes sense to me. In my state, I think the law says that once a kid is in foster care 15 out of 22 months, they're adoption-eligible. But that would mean, if the foster family isn't ready or able to adopt, a new foster family that is would be located. The state isn't going to send kids to an unsafe environment.
Re: for once no one is the asshole!
The thing is, the kids won't go back to bio family if bio family has been deemed unfit. The four year mark makes sense to me. In my state, I think the law says that once a kid is in foster care 15 out of 22 months, they're adoption-eligible. But that would mean, if the foster family isn't ready or able to adopt, a new foster family that is would be located. The state isn't going to send kids to an unsafe environment.