If a child was in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months, or if the court determined that a child is abandoned or made an aggravated circumstance finding, DFPS must seek termination and begin recruitment for adoption unless: 

• the child is being cared for by a relative; 
• DFPS has documented in the case plan a compelling reason why termination would not be in the child’s best interest; or 
• DFPS has not made reasonable efforts to reunify. 

Note that because many jurisdictions file pleadings in the alternative and request termination at initial filing and because of Texas’s mandatory dismissal deadline, this requirement almost never needs to be addressed separately.

42 U.S.C. §675(5)(E)

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