[sonya47]

Two of my FD's were removed this weekend for at least the 3rd time. The caseworker said they have been in care a lot and from listening to the oldest it's apparent because she knows the system better than we do. The CW said that there would be an emergency hearing to determine if the case should remain open or not. What does that mean? The worker said the case was supposed to have been closed before but wasn't. Is she referring to TPR? What is a closed case? She said the girls would be here indefinitely. I asked her what that means to have the case closed but she couldn't explain it as she's a new caseworker and this is her first case.

[kermitdfrog]

That means that if they close a case the file is closed and the kids stay with family.

The hearing I believe is to go before the judge to get the approval to detain the children yet again and the county would have custody of the children in which they would stay with you until reunification occurs.

[sonya47]

The original hearing was held today instead of the emergency hearing to determine if the case would be closed and the girls sent home. Prior to the hearing the CW email that she was confident it would remain open "considering the circumstances."
It was decided that the girls would remain out of the home and there will be another hearing in 3 months. Visitations will start soon. I know when they came to us the allegation we were originally told has since been disproved based on a medical exam so obviously there are other circumstances. Do I have a right to know what those circumstances are or does that violate the parents rights? I have a brand new CW so most questions I ask her, she has to ask her supervisor. I love the girls already but feel there are things we should know that may be helpful in the future.
"S" misses her mom but asks often if we would adopt her if she doesn't get to go home. Is it normal for a 13 year old to ask to be adopted?

[kermitdfrog]

If I'm right here I believe the next hearing will be the fact finding in which they have to have done within three months of taking the children out of the home.

Did you go to the court hearing? Are you planning on going to the next one?

With our dd I went to every single hearing there was and our cw told the bios that I worked for her lol just so they didn't know that I was the foster mom. If you go to the hearings you will get all or most of the information about the case.

Do I think it's important to know what the other circumstances are other than what was stated before and then dismissed? Heck yes!

Will you get the information if you ask your cw? More than likely no. For some reason whether we like it or not cw's just don't think that we need to know everything and that's why I went to all the hearings.

If you have the opportunity to go then I would suggest you do it. Not only to get the facts straight but it's also nice to know how the system works and to see who all is involved with making the choices for your kids.

As far as her asking if you can adopt her, I wouldn't think that, that would be a normal question coming from a 13 year old. You've stated that this is their 3rd time in the system? I'm assuming that they went through 3 different homes each time so she is more than likely wanting someone to want her?? It's such a tough age to go through this kind of thing and she is probably scared of it happening again where she will have to get "use" to another family if this fails.

Again, this is just a guess on my part and maybe someone else on the board has more experience with this age than I do and hopefully will give you better advice or input.

[EandDmom]

My caseworker will answer all the questions I ask her to the best of her ability but she doesn't usually volunteer much. Its hard knowing to ask a question about a topic if you don't know about it so its a circle.
We do eventually get all the court documents so that helps and I do go to all the hearings. That is a tremendous help in getting info. Just ask her everything you want an answer to and see what she tells you.
I don't think asking if you will adopt her is normal I don't know I don't deal with teenagers. I know it is very sad.

[sonya47]

I will definitely go to the next hearing. I haven't been invited to any of them but will ask the CW for all the information. She did tell me the date, I'm sure if I ask she will be accomodating. I think it's important to get the facts about where the girls come from and what their history is. "A" is 16 months and will SCREAM non stop if I leave the room for a split second without her. I informed "S" that they will start visits this weekend and her mood turned completely mellow for the rest of the evening. I asked if she was excited to finally get to see her mom again after these several weeks and she said not really. My heart is breaking because I would be devastated if one of my bio kids didn't want to see me. I know she loves and misses her mom because she always talks so positively about her but she's old enough and has been through things that no one should have to go through. We are trying to make this visit very positive for her but we're bracing for possible mood changes until then and shortly afterwards. Things were finally starting to normalize...