[rtd0078]

Hello All,

I have an question, my husband and I got her first placement in May. dcfs cw took our foster/adopt child from another foster home becuz she did not want to adopt her and the tpr is coming up in August. well our foster/adopt child been in foster care for 11 months. and bio-mom was missing for the first 6 months. bio-mom pop back up at the last hearing and they gave her 9 hour per week of weekly monitor visit which she has change them and every week its a different story. bio-mom says she going to appreal the tpr. bio-mom is saying she going to all her classes but she still don't have anywhere to live or a car. dcfs cw said she is not attending any classes. What should I do? And is this normal? The court rewarded bad behavior when she got them visits.
Is it normal for dcfs to move a child and they are planning on giving bio-mom back her kids. dcfs is having the other foster mother that got the sibling do a adopt homestudy. dcfs and the bio-mom are not evening talking. bio-mom is paying for her own classes. since we had fd bio-mom been canceling some of her visitation./ DCFS is not evening helping bio-mom with nothing and dcfs was surprise when the court gave bio-mom the 9 hr of weekly monitor visit. Its like they reward bad behavior

[takingtheplunge]

I am not an expert, so take the analysis with a grain of salt. I'm reflecting on my friends' cases and what was learned in training.

DPSS will move a child if TPR is being pursued instead of R/U and the current foster home doesn't want to adopt. Due to mom's no-shows the first 6 months or so, they probably moved away from r/u to TPR. They probably had a hearing that "ended services" meaning that TPR hasn't happened but they are no longer required to pay for intervention programs, classes, drive mom to visits, etc. Even though "services are ended" the parent can still pursue the prescribed r/u steps and earn their child back. But, as you can imagine, it's much harder for them to do it on their own w/o pre-paid services. DPSS is probably talking to her through her court appointed lawyer. DPSS can still request TPR if mom completes classes. Ultimately, the judge has the final say.

My guess is that having the child moved was this parent's wake up call. It's apparent she isn't following through with classes; she is probably in denial. If she is making progress (no matter how meager) she is entitled to visits. I don't think they are "rewarding her behavior" as much as they are following procedure w/ visits. The visit times seem long. Maybe they are seeing if she can handle that much time with the kids. The more she cancels, the worse it looks for her. Set rules about rescheduling after canceled or late visits. Others might have suggestions.

Hang in there. Pray for a judicial ruling that will benefit the kid.

[mamachell]

I would say that DCFS does think the case is going to TPR and they wanted to move the child to a home that is willing to adopt because they don't want to create legal orphans. Meaning, they don't TPR without a permanent plan for the child and adoption is the most permanent plan for a child.

As far as the visits, they have to give them to her unless there is a compelling reason, like it's a danger to the kids, not to. She'll get them until TPR. If she keeps cancelling, sometimes the cw will cut back on the time. Usually, the judge will give DCFS some discretion to change visits. Also, they need to keep giving her visits so it can't be used as a reason not to TPR.

I'm in a similar situation with TPR scheduled but still having visits. The visits are getting crazier and uglier and I'm sure it will just get worse as we get closer to TPR. Good luck and hang in there.