[mommy-of-three]

We have had our foster son, which is 21 months, for almost 15 months. In Oklahoma law states at 15 months that parental rights can be terminated. We thought that was happening until this week when our case worker stated that she was going to ask for a 6 month extension for the birth mother to go through syc evaulation and that there is a great aunt that has showed interest in adopting- although this aunt has never even seen our foster son before. We can not give him up without a fight, he is part of our family now and up to this point the case worker has said oh it looks like your going to get him. The mom will not pass the syc eval. she has already been through it once, why we need another one I don't understand. She didn't pass the first one. She has mental disablities. What rights do we have as foster parents? He is our first one and we are not familar with the system at all. Please help if you can.

[DiamondzR]

Sounds like that lil boy has really made an impression in your lives. The reality of the situation is... The system will try to place the child with a bio family first EVEN if they have not EVER met them. The key word on Mom's TPR and Psych eval and the 15 months is CAN... they CAN terminate parental rights. Doesn't mean they will. Hoping for you that the Aunt has something in her background that will cause her request to be denied and you can have that lovely boy live with you forever. Sorry this may not sound hopeful... Hugs and I hope you get what you are looking for.

[HappyMomAnna]

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) which is a Federal mandate requires that if a child is in Care 16 of 22 consecutive months that an Adoption Plan has to be started....

However, this does NOT mean that the caseplan has to be just for adoption....It can mean that at the same time the birthfamily is working on a caseplan the state is required to START the permanacy planning.

It is required that the State also do a relative placement search which does mean that family members of the child have to be given the opportunity to adopt a child in care. Before the state can place a child for adoption they must show that no relatives are interested--or that the interested relatives are not able to pass a relative homestudy.... A child cannot be placed for an adoption until the state has proven there is not a fit family member.....

If there is not a fit family member then the next family considered would be the Foster Family who has cared for the child.

The fact that your foster childs caseplan is still working with the biologicl family is normal. The state will do what is called concurrant planning where they work with the biological family at the same time as putting together an adoption plan. This is actually the typical way things are done....

[DianeS]

Anna, someone's given you slightly incorrect information about the ASFA law. It does not require an adoption plan, it requires a *permanency* plan. That can be for adoption, return to bio parents, guardianship, long-term foster care, just about anything. The ASFA doesn't require an adoption plan at any time. (And besides, there are no "teeth" to the law. No penalties, no reporting, etc. It is regularly ignored without anything happening. So even though the law exists, it is not often followed. Plus, there isn't anything that says they can't change the permanency plan anytime they want. It's essentially a useless law, although it's quoted anytime it happens to agree with what the worker or judge wants to do anyway.)

Mommy-of-3, this is indeed one of the most difficult parts of the foster-adopt programs. The chance, or liklihood, of the child being returned to biological family. That's what foster families do, and that's the point your family is still at.

Mom gets to take another psychological exam because there is always the chance the first one was flawed, or that her mental state has improved since the time of the last one. The mom will get multiple chances on everything.
Relatives like the great-aunt are almost always given preference over a foster family. State laws differ on this, there may be a point in time at which the foster family's bonding to the child is considered more important than the biol family's genetic tie to the child. Some states declare that at a year or two of the child being in the home, others never declare it or pick other time limits.
This is HARD. But this is foster parenting. Hold on tight, because this is going to be a bumpy ride for you as they extend the chances mom gets and decide if the great-aunt has passed her homestudy and if the genetic tie outweighs the bonding tie for the child.

[HappyMomAnna]

Actually Diane you are correct the right term is permancy....

The concurrant planning that is supposed to take place is the move to terminate parental rights starting at the 16th month.... and planning for perm placement.

There are of course things that will extend timelines...and in some other cases Fast Track a case. Much of the lack of upholding the details of ASFA comes in the ways the judges are still allowing extensions.

Right now several states have formed groups of private citizens, CASA, GAL's and DHS caseworkers to form adviosries and offer suggestions for Federal review. The Federal government does intend to look at this whole issue withing the next year.... I am currently involved in a State group planning to advocate for some changes in the ASFA....

[2boyz1girl]

Mommy-of-three, I PMed you.

[TinaV]

In Oklahoma, if a child has been with a Foster family for 12 months, the state gives "great weight" to placing with the foster family. If the bio family is just now coming forward, then chances are very good that you will get to adopt.

[Imdamommy]

I was just thinking of your family and wondering if you had an update on your situation.

[mommy-of-three]

Oh my where do I start-

Things are going well for us. The judge terminated rights in June and of course ** appealed so we are set for trial Sept 7th. I am confident that it will work out, we are going before the judge (non jury trial) that terminated her rights. Our case worker has stated that there was no way ** would win this case due to the syc evals and other testing the ** went through and failed. She has not had any contact with me or the case worker in over 3 months now. The case worker has stated that she has heard she is pregnant again so she is not going to fight for him- she is just going to replace him with another child- sad situation. They have checked with all biological family members and none of them are going to fight us for him-HOORAY!! He is already part of our family, we have had him for almost 2 years now. I really feel sorry for his **- she really loves him she just can't take care of him. It is really a sad situation all the way around. I'll post again after our court date, keep us in your prayers!