[forever83085]

Hi everyone that happens to read this. I was wondering about the rights foster parents have. I do know at 3 months (of having a child in your home) you can intervine and there are more rights after 6 months. If anyone can explain more that would be great. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[hotspice58]

Rights don't change until they're adopted. As foster kids, (in NY), everything has to be approved, through DSS and the bio parent(s). Trips, anything medical, cost of activities (we're reimbursed for those).

[proudmomof4]

Same in NC. You have to get preapproval because the kids are wards of the state until reunification or adoption.

[ajjhmf]

I think in all states, rights don;t actually change until the adoption is final.

However in some states, the longer a foster child is with you, the better chance a foster parent has of winning a custody case over a birth relative that might show up late in the case or after TPR. This is rare though and even with CWs and GALs siding with foster families, I've seen kids leave homes they have been in for years.

[5starday]

We're supposed to have rights?

Sorry, a little sarcasm there!

(Still waiting for an adoption worker!!! TPR was last January!!!)

[kharrison]

I asked this same question and got pounced on and said after a whole year I have NO rights....I thought after 6mnths we as fp have rights and even more after the one year mark...
K

[Bug-n-Bears-Mommy]

Same here in WA...you get rights the minute the judge slams the gavel on Adoption Day!!

[T-N-T]

Foster parents rights are very limited, however you can be heard. I or my wife attended every court date for all of our foster children. We also became very involved with our children's SWs. and contacted them regulary whether they liked it or not. The "squeaky wheel gets the grease," is very true statment.

While you typically won't be called by the judge you can, and should write a letter describing "facts."

i.e. "Nov 5th visitation bio mom no show."

Contact your agency and ask about sample letters to a judge.

You can make your voice be heard. Take advantage of their resources, If they know you are willing to adopt they will help.

We were able to gain a One-on-one worker for our youngest before he was adopted and fought for every other aid available.

We were very aggressive in finding out just what the system had, my advice to you is do the same.

[ash_cam_roger3]

HI I have been going threw the foster/adoption and have had my 2yr old fs son with me for one month. In pa we have families united which does placing and homestudy. They told me that the case is reviewed at 10 months and changed completly at 16 months if there is no attempt to regain custdy by the birthparents.

[Hadley2]

It depends what you mean by "rights." Fps have no parental rights. The SS agency has proxy to some but not all parental rights and obligations under a court-ordered guardianship or legal custodianship, whichever is provided for by state statute to give the agency care and control of the person. In turn, the SS agency can delegate some of the obligations and its authority (e.g., for ordinary medical care) to an fp, but the guardianship or legal custodianship is with the agency, not the fp.

The federal Adoption & Safe Families Act provides that foster parents must be notified and have the opportunity to be heard at all hearings from day one. ASFA does not provide for making foster parents a party to the case.

Some states enable foster parents and/or relatives to file as "intervenors" or "persons with a legitimate interest" or some such designation. Sometimes there is a certain amount of time that must go by before that can happen. Even then, however, I don't think (am not actually sure) the fp is made an actual party to the case, just that they may file petitions related to it (e.g., petition to change a goal, to adopt, etc.) in addition to the ASFA provisions.

How much weight such petitions carry in court depends on the preferences embodied in state code, local practice and probably, mostly the judge. I'd have to guess (but don't really know) that any fp, relative or not, petitioning to eliminate an ru goal may be viewed as violating the agreement to support ru and provide cause for declaring the placement disrupted or granting an appeal of a TPR. (I don't think one necessarily follows the other, but a good parents' attorney could make it look that way as evidence that someone unfairly hampered the parents' efforts.)

Whether or not a particular agency or court honors either ASFA or its own state's statutes is a whole different matter.

Other vagaries: If the fp is a witness, the defense can have them barred from the proceedings until after their testimony. Also, actual hearings aren't always where the real action is--oftentimes, the parties' lawyers meet before court and come to an agreement that is given to the judge ahead of time. When the hearing actually starts, the judge simply announces what was agreed to beforehand and has the order drawn up with no further discussion.

If you do write a letter to the court, be sure to check with the judge's clerk about how it should be addressed (including cc:'s), when it should be delivered and whether it should be notarized to not be considered an ex parte communication. Different courts have different practices, even in the same district and courthouse. Be aware that to not be considered "ex parte," your letter will most likely be copied and distributed to all parties. Some court clerks do this automatically, some do not. When they don't and you haven't copied and distributed to all parties, the judge may have your letter your shredded without reading it. (This happened to us because we assumed the clerk would copy and distribute as they do in our local court, but she did not and did not mention the need for me to do it when I asked how to address it. They are not always forthcoming or helpful, so your questions need to be specific and very clear.)

A little OT--
So far, our required "notification" has consisted of summonses threatening to arrest us if we fail to appear even though we live 13 hours away by car and the nearest airport served by a discount carrier is three hours away. Rock-bottom cheapest (book ahead fun fare) air, car and hotel for a three-day jaunt runs just under $750, 100% uncompensated (driving roundtrip would be more expensive). Once the notice arrived two and a half days before the hearing date. Luckily, the hearing was continued so I didn't get arrested

So..."rights" may be too strong a word for the role you can have as a fp but at least we are not just babysitters anymore.

[straightblues]

As foster parents, the children are placed "at will" which means the social worker can pick them up at any time and take them away from you. This usually doesn't happen but it can. Foster parents have no say in this (ie no rights). This is shocking but true.

You can influence the case by writing letters, showing up in court (although you can't make arguments (yes you may be called to testify) but you can't raise your own arguments).

In California they do have something called "De Facto Parenthood". I received De Facto Parenthood status after the children had been with me for 9 months. (8 months seems to be the norm when Judges seem to grant it but their is no set time frame.) In order to get it you have to prove you are a "valuable" person in the childs life. My wife and I were able to do that. When you have De Facto Parenthood status you become party to the Court action. Therefore you can be represented in Court by your own attorney, and you will get all of the court notices. This was a great thing to help advance my case which the County Cousel and Child's attorney were just screwing up.