[AdoptedSuccess]

Hi, I'm new here so bear with me while I adjust to the protocol for these forums.

My wifes 1st cousin has a 7 year old child that is now in foster care. The cousin has drug problems/lifestyle problems etc and cannot take care of her child anymore.

The child has lived her moth her whole life up until a year ago where she was living with other family member until her mother could get her stuff together and take her child back. Tht never happened and the child was forced into the foster system and her mother now has visitation rights. We get along well with the child and the mother and I think that we are capable of handling an open adoption and/or keeping the mothers visitiation rights intact.

Now that she is in the foster care system, we would like to get her back into the family and out of that situation as soon as possible but my wife and I just started talking about this so we of course have lots of questions. Here are a few:

1. A private adoption (an arrangement between the mother and us) is no longer available now that she is in the foster system and the mother only has visitation rights, right?

2. What would the best option for us to be to parent this child? Adoption, becoming foster parents?

3. What are the rules of guardianship? When a parent signs guardianshipo over to another parent/family, she still has all right to the child right?

I understand these questions are very vague but I would appreciate any help anyone has to offer. FAQ's weblinks or personal advice.

I tried searching for FAQ's but only came across pages and pages of ads and junk.

Thank you in advance.

[MissyB9479]

It might be hard to get the state to agree to guardianship instead of adoption. It all depends on how strong their case is against your cousin-in-law. If they are going after TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) then they are probably not going to be okay with guardianship because it doens't end that parental relationship. You are right that under guardianship she would retain her parental rights and would have visitation. And if you would be okay with her being able to get custody back at some point in the future then guardianship is the way to go (if the court allows it). It is all a matter of what you would be most comfortable with.

In any case the first thing to do is to contact the child's caseworker and let them know that you are interested in being a kinship placement. They will want to complete a homestudy and background check on you and your wife. When you pass that you will become like a foster parent. You will have to abide by the court's rulings on visits and will need to stay in contact with the workers. You may or may not be able to get a subsidy depending on your state. Once the child is in your home then you can begin talking about what to do next.

[AdoptedSuccess]

Thanks for your advice, it is greatly appreciated.

We wouldn't be interested in returning her to her mothers custody full time but would encourage whatever visitation was desired by both the child and mother, so it doesn't seem like Guardianship would be the way to go.

Thanks again!!