I am a child psychiatrist, a mother, and a grandmother. It is essential that every effort be made to photograph the children in custody, especially the very young children. The physiognomy of children changes rapidly and if parents are to recognize their own children they should be shown pictures taken as close to the time of separation as possible. Pictures of parents would certainly help children identify their own mothers and fathers but infants and toddlers would not necessarily have the cognitive ability required.
It is also essential for children to be asked their names (?also parents’ names) if possible. Names are especially vital to ascertain quickly, before a foster parent for lack of knowledge about the child chooses a different name and the baby forgets his own name.
Finally, if restoration of parents and children is delayed, families and judges will be faced with the Solomonic problem of who gets the child, the foster parent to whom the child may have bonded versus the biological parent.
I think many of us would volunteer to go to shelters, photograph children, and gather these data.