Reunification is ALWAYS better for a child long term if it's safely possible. Growing up in a mildly traumatic home with your bio family produces a more functional human than being taken from bio family and possibly having less trauma. The trauma of being removed from parents trumps almost every other trauma there is. Many studies prove this.

There are very few cases over my career where it was immediately apparent that a child should be permanently removed forever. These cases usually involved parents sex trafficking their children. There are few real monsters in the world, most people are just hurt. The reunification period allows the agency/ worker to see if a parent is capable.

A year is not long enough for a person to conquer their lifelong demons and be ready to parent. The entire system needs to be changed in order to be best for both parents and kids. Right now, workers rush to reunify in time and give kids to parents who are teetering on the edge of being ok. Then the kids get removed again because the parent wasn't stable enough. It feeds itself.