[TXNana_Lynn]

I live in Houston , TX.

We have been raising our great neice and nephew for almost 5 years now. They are now 7 and 9. They call us mom and dad and we love them both very much. My sister, their grandmother, had them but she passed away in 1999 and they came to live with us. We have never went to court or anything, No one else in the family was able to care for them so we did.

I only have a notarized paper I drew up myself I have been using for guardianship. I have been getting TANF for the two for the last 4 years. Both children have ADHD, many emotional and behavior and learning problems stemming from abuse and neglect from thier mom. We have been married 30 years ans we have 2 grown children and 11 grandkids.

This past week their BIO mother had another child and CPS taken custody of the child. It tested positive for cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. I had to go to family court yesterday for an emergency hearing over it. My neice is mentally challenged due to an head injury when she was only 2 yrs old and cannot care for any of her kids, let alone herself. She functions on about a 10 year old's level. She is badly in need of help for herself, which she may now finally get She goes to a drug rehab next week and then to MHMRA for evaluation.

At the hearing the judge said he was going to go ahead and order her stripped her of all her parental rights to all three kids, not just the new baby and then grant my husband and I legal guardianship of the two we have. This is set to happen at another hearing on 11/12.

I was told this then would "fast track" us to be able to adopt them. The new baby is going to another family member....but they are not blood kin. They are planning to adopt him. We just could not take on another child. First they will have to go through home study and background checks, ect.

I was told now CPS would be doing a home study on us also and I am a little bit worried over it. They will probally do a background check also which we have nothing to hide there. I don't know what all the studies will involve. What if we don't pass it?

What does "fast track" mean? How do we go about the adoption once they strip her of her parental rights? No fathers are listed on their birth certificates and they are supposed to be both deceased now anyways. How will this effect adopting them?

We are not wealthy and I am on SSDI since 1997 and have several health problems. Will this hender the adoption?
What does an adoptiion cost?

I would appreciate your help and advice on this matter.

[Jensboys]

I know it all sounds really scary but it isnt. The social workers WANT you to keep the kids, they WANT you to pass the homestudy.

What they will do is simply confirm that you intend to parent and that you have room in your home for them .... (they should of done this years ago). Because of your age, they may ask if you have made arrangements where the kids will go in the event of your untimely death.

Money, or lack there of, isnt an issue. Obviously you have been able to care for the kids for years.

You will have to have a criminal record check and possibly a medical exam.

Once the children are adopted, they will have your last name and you will be able to make all decisions for them (they even get a new birthcertificate showing you as their mom and dad) they also then are entitled to all inheritance rights the same as your other kids. Technically, you probably legally had no right to get them medical care, register them for school etc without an actual legal guardianship.

One thing about going through DFS with an adoption is that you might now be entitled for more aid. Our DFS pays for things like extra tutoring, orthadontics work, counselling etc...

Congratulations on making your family "official!"

[TXNana_Lynn]

Thanks for your reply. I do feel a little better about CPS being involved and the homestudies. I have been researching info on the net this afternoon. Thats how I found this forum.
I am just afraid of losing the kids. I don't think I could handle that! They are just like my own!!! And I know it would have a negative effect on them. They have come so far in the time we have had them. They are very happy and very much loved.

The guardian paper I drew up has been accepted for medical, school and for getting the TANF. I found it on the internet several years ago. It is a "Designation of Guardians and Durable Power of Attorney", signed by myself, my husband and their mother and notarized.

I hadn't really thought about who would take the kids if something happened to one of us. Most likely our son or daughter would. I am 47 and my husband is 50. Most people can't believe we've been married 30 yrs already....We just got started early! But my sister died at my age (47) due to heart and diabetes complications, so I really DO need to think about this as I DO have many of the same medical problems as she did......just not as bad.

Sorry to sound dumb......what is DFS? And are you sure I will be going through DFS now that the courts and CPS are involved?
Do you have any idea of the costs involved for adopting through them?

[stepforone]

You have to remember that courts and CPS prefer children to stay with families. Family home studies are usually not as detailed or strick as foster parents. You are very young considering the situation and I don't see how your age will effect it, we are 41 and are trying to adopt a 3 yo and possibly a baby. No one has ever said anything about our ages. Remember that the ages of your kids are such that they don't usually have people lined up to adopt them. The state should do what they can to approve you. About the only red flags would be criminal or CPS history but you said that doesn't apply. Pretty much anything else could be fixed if they told you about it (dangerous things lying around the house, no smoke detectors, etc.). Dont' worry, sounds like you have a new 'forever' family.

[jhtcct]

TXNana_Lynn

If you will email me at jhtcct@yahoo.com, I will give you a name of a lawyer who has done LOTS of CPS adoptions. In fact, he has adopted quite a few kids from them himself. When you adopt through CPS, they reimburse you for adoption costs. This lawyer doesn't require any payment up front. He sends you a bill, you submit it to CPS and when they send you a check, you sign it over to him. I live just north of Houston. HTH

[aacl8018]

Txnana_lynn we also adopted through cps 1 1/2 yr ago and is now going through another adoption. The only thing you might have to pay for is the homestudy, and that CPS will reimburse to you after the adoption is final. You don't have to go and get yourelf a lawyer unless you maybe would like to speed up the adoption but since CPS already has said they want to fast track this adoption i don't see why. So the adoption will not cost you anything. If you decide that you would like to get your own lawyer keep in mind that CPS will only reimburse you up to a total of $ 2000.00.