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Please don't take this post negatively, I think you are trying to do a good thing and that if grandma agrees, it will probably work out. I'd just hate to see you throw money away, though.
I don't see much point in hiring a lawyer to file a petition for adoption of a child who is not free for adoption--and if grandma has guardianship, I don't see how the child could be free for adoption.
Also, no lawyer from the grandparents' law firm should take you as clients. That would be a terrible conflict of interest--even if she changes her mind and agrees with the adotion--and could really muck up the works.
It is not clear whether this child is actually still in the foster system or not. If grandmother has taken guardianship, then you may end up having to work out a private adoption with her. Not the best thing, really, at all, for the child, as the state could wash its hands of all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the child.
In my experience, as soon as the state can wash its hands of a foster case and call it "closed," even if the legal custody case is still open, it will do it, leaving the relatives holding the financial and legal mess.
In any case, it does sound as if the permanency planning has already happened, and the permanency plan is grandma unless she is asking to disrupt or DSS is going back on the plan it got the court to approve once and is asking for a change.
I don't know why DSS would bother with a shared guardianship arrangement with grandma. There is no point to it and it creates an ambiguous legal and financial situation for the child--if DSS is keeping legal custody, then grandma is foster or kinship care. If grandma has guardianship, then she has legal custody and the state is out of it (meaning grandma is left to her own devices to get a TPR against mother, etc., which doesn't sound as if it's happening, so I tend to think grandma is only caring for the child). There is no allowance in federal foster care law for shared guardianship with the state--it actually goes against the spirit of the law which is to ensure optimal permanency for the child--but some states tend to ignore the details when it benefits them for some reason. Still, it doesn't really make any sense that I can think of.
If the child is still in the legal custody of the state, and not the grandmother, then you should, if DSS puts you forward as the adoptive resource home and the court approves, be able to adopt the child out of foster care. That would be good, because if the child is Title IV-E eligible (likely), then the child would most likely qualify for continued subsidy and services from the state--most especially you want to keep the child's Medicaid, even if it is supplemental to your private insurance, because most state children's Medicaid will pay for many, many, things that private insurance won't or have unworkable caps on--like weekly therapy.
Title IV-E money can also be used to defray the legal costs of adoption to you, upwards of a cap of about $2500, I think, maybe $2000, for the lawyer's fee to file and do the follow-up work, etc. We are told that a lawyer in the state with which we are dealing will actually do all that for about $1000. I am not sure, but I believe in our case when the time comes, the lawyer must invoice DSS directly.
If you want the lawyer to get you court standing, represent you in foster care review and permanency planning hearings, negotiate your adoption assistance agreement, etc., that would, of course, be more. I don't know if any part could be paid out of Title IV-E, but I doubt it--I think that money is intended for the routine costs of adoption.
In the meantime, if grandma actually has guardianship, she can certainly give you physical custody. Or DSS could, or DSS and grandma together if required, long, long, long before any adoption. Most states require a fchild to live with you for a certain amount of time before approving an adoption, anyway. Most states also have waivers for kinship care that will allow placement before you have taken classes (I'm betting grandma didn't take any classes).
Talk to lawyers, consulations are usually free (ask ahead). Get a list of GALs who work in your court district and talk to a few. They will give you a better idea of the process and what they can and can't do for you. Talk to a few before deciding what to do. It will probably take hearing explanations a few times, anyway.
Be very careful to avoid accepting guardianship. Again, if you do, you can be in the middle of the ocean alone. Check out the foster care and adoption boards as there are many relatives doing the same thing over there (including me).
Good luck. I hope all works out well for the child.
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