[rtd0078]

3 slibing group; I have one and the other foster mom has the other two. we do visitation will bio-mom two times out the week and she either canceling or leaving early.the TPR was suppose to happen but bio- family member are poping up in court saying DCFS is not working with them.the grandma is the one that give up the children orginally when her bio-mom went to jail. Now grandma is standing up in court saying she want the kids back. grandma also has a record to. The grandma does visitation to but she also cancels more then she visits as well at times. the bio-mom appreal
and the 388 hearing is coming up and bio mom still does not have a job or no place to live. It seem like the bio-mom & family goes to court tells the judge one thing then DCFS CSW try and do what the minute order from the judge says and they are not working with the DCFS CSW. Now the aunt pop up at the last court date saying she wants all three kids. she related to one of the slibings she is the sister to the oldest slibing dad. all three slibing has different father and she is not even related to the foster child I got or know him she is not even trying to visit the children or call them but when she goes to court she tells the judge that she does not have the foster family phone numbers and she wants visits she is lying to.

becuz of the 388 hearing is coming up DCFS CSW
had to send a report to the courts and the report says
that DCFS CSW want the kids to be adopted.now everyone like the bio-mom, attorney, foster parents we all got this report in this report it even list the visitation history of bio-mom and grandma it also list what going on with all the kids as far as if they are a regional client and what going on in school.

My question are is this normal?
how come it is so much drama?
its seem like the children attorney is the bio-family attorney too.
the children attorney came to one of the visitation too is that normal?
I even heard the bio-mom and bio-family say they are not giving nothing to the dcfs csw they will give there proof to the judge and the attorney. how will this work and the judge tell the bio-family to work with dcfs csw.
I wish the dcfs csw will come to court also.

[mamachell]

So what is DCFS recommending: adoption by you or by another family member? Also, how long have you had the kids in your home? If you've had them over about 6 months you can apply to become de facto parents and that will give you a voice in court. You can check out ::ADVOKIDS :: and you can download the paperwork to become a de facto parent (you become a "party to the case" which means you or your attorney can speak in court like any other party). You should also fill out the JV290 form that lets you write a letter to the judge.

Also, remember, many family members may come forward but not that many can usually pass the homestudy and fingerprinting. And, even if they do, the idea of taking on 3 kids might be too much.

Good luck.

PS. Yes, it's always this crazy!

[pammi716]

Mamachell is right, but I just wanted to add on. In Calif if you had fc's for 6 months or more, you are considered kinship. That means if a family member knew the kids were in care from the beginning and is now coming forward they will probally not even be considered, you have just as much rights as them if not more. The only time when there can be a problem, is if a family member never knew that the child or children were in care and just found out. Then they can be considered. It really depends on how long the children have been in your care. If I remember right, children services try and find a realitive or kinship placement as soon as child comes into care. Usually if no one comes forward by month 4 then foster parent has some rights. By month 6 you even have more rights and can file for de facto parent status. We just went through this. We are now adopting the sibling set in our care. The other people that wanted our girls came forward only after they found out that SW filed to stop reunification. Then they wanted to adopt the girls. Girls came into my home as emergency placements and they were with me for a little over 4 months. No family came forward. SW filed to stop reunification in March and the TPR hearing was set for July. In April I get a call that friends of mom want to adopt girls and just finished PRIDE classes. I said NO. Called supervisor, he reviewed all paperwork, including the court docs stating we are the adoptive placement if reunification fails. We were 2 weeks shy of having girls in our care for 6 months. He came to our home and met with us and said girls have bonded with our family and since we were only 2 weeks shy of 6 months he said thats close enough, he then said he was going to call other family and let them know that girls will be adopted by us. Hope this helps, but just remember every situation is different.

[Longing2bMom]

In California, you can also file for "Prospective Adoptive Parent" status if the child has lived with you for more than 6 months AND TPR has been filed. Once you are granted this status, the child CANNOT be removed from your custody without a hearing before a judge and at the hearing DCFS will have the burden of proving why the move is in the child's best interest. You can read more about this at Advokids.com.