[aandr]

Good Morning,

The good news - we are through phase one of termination. The bio's gave up/lost their rights to a jury trial so now we move on to the best interest phase. The court has ordered a bonding assessment be done. What exactly is this and what should we expect?

Thanks for everyone's input!

[mamachell]

Here's some info I had posted earlier on bonding assessments. I know there may be some posters who have gone through one that can give you some info about what really went on in the session(s).

Good luck.

Here's some more info on bonding studies in general. It's from

Bonding Assessments


Q:
What is a Bonding Assessment?

A: In situations where child protection agencies, attorneys, or courts need feedback in deciding whether to work toward a return of custody – versus exploring options such as guardianship, change of placement, continued foster placement, or adoption – psychologists often complete what is termed a “bonding evaluation.” A bonding evaluation is a specialized type of assessment whose goal is to determine the nature and quality of the child’s attachments to birth and/or foster parents, often to address the question of who occupies the position of greatest centrality in a child’s emotional life. This is roughly equivalent to determining which adult(s) serve as the “psychological parent” to the child. While mostly conducted in the context of child welfare cases, bonding evaluations are also used in divorce and custody cases, particularly if there are questions about the bond and relationship between a young child and a parent.

While each evaluator may conduct a bonding assessment in different ways, there are common themes. Typically the evaluator pays close attention to certain characteristics between the parent and the child such as:

• The frequency and nature of touching between parent and child as an index of comfort level;
• Comfort seeking and guidance seeking behavior by the child;
• The capacity of the parent to engage the child effectively and to respond to the child’s expressed needs in an appropriate manner;
• Whether the parent and child make eye contact and smile at each other;
• Whether the child displays signs of upset if a separation occurs during the session;
• How the parent responds to the child’s signals of hunger, thirst, want of comfort, or need to use the bathroom;
• Whether the child is willing to explore the environment while the parent is in the same room.

[mrstkg1]

Is the bonding assessment between the children and their parents, between you and the children. Are you wanting to adopt? How long have the children been in your home. A bonding assessment is a little strange unless there are two groups of people wanting the children. If you share a little more, I might be able to give you a little more insight.

[aandr]

mrstkg1

My understanding is they will be doing multiple bonding assessments -- the mom w/ the children and us w/ the children.

Yes, we are looking to adopt. We have had them for 6 months, but they have been removed for almost 2 years.

I think it is rather strange -- they lost the 1st phase which basically means the state has the evidence to terminate. I believe this is a last stitch effort, but I want to be careful going into this whole bonding study.

Thanks for the input!

[MBear]

We just went through this over the summer for our little one. She was with us at that time for 20 months. The doctor came to our house three times for approx 3 hours each visit. He made us very comfortable and we just went about our normal routine. He did ask general questions about our little one but he said it was obvious that she is strongly bonded to us. At this time he has not been to court to share his results but I'm hoping his opinion will matter. We would be losing our little one to the gma who didn't have time initially for her. Good luck, our experience was very positive.

[momma24rn]

Is it rare for a bonding study to be ordered? Who usually initiates it? The judge only? The GAL, dcs? Foster parents?
We have had J for almost 18 months. TPR is next month. Would be nice if they would order one.

[aandr]

momma24rn,

In our case the attorneys for the bio's ordered it so the DA came back and requested one for all caretakers involved. I believe they are doing this to counter the fact that they will be saying the children are bonded to the bio's. This way they can say they are also bonded to the caretakers. We will see what happens - I am optimistic that it will serve in our favor.

thanks everyone for you comments!