[LadyDyan1]

If anyone could offer some help here it would be so apreciated.....so here's the story.

A year and a half ago, one of my sons (who was 17 at the time) became involved with a young lady who had just turned 16 and had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Well, this young lady had several mental and emotional issues which she had prescription drugs for, very rarely took though. Being she was underaged, both her and the baby were under the legal care of this young lady's Mother. She is one of those Mothers that regardless of how old she will ever be, (she's still in her early 30's), she will forever in her mind be 21. Lives like it, acts like it and thinks like it. This baby girl went through so much neglect and a life that was very unsuitable for an adult, much less a new born. Shortly after she was born I began taking care of her a lot and grew to love her dearly. I looked upon her as my grandchild. Several times I had both the baby and her young Mom living in my home after the "grandmother" would put them out with nowhere to go. On the last occaision she lived with me, I called our local Child Protective Service, feeling someone needed to intervene before only God knew what would happen to this baby. Instead of acting on it, the worker I spoke with was very rude and threatening to me because of the fact this young girl lived with me and so did my older teenaged son. He threatened to remove him from my home and so much more. The issue of this child was never taken into account. She wound up having to move and I was devastated. I had grown to love both her and her new baby so much. It was like losing a child of my own. So now, it's a year and a half later. The baby will be 2 in July. She is now in the custody of CPS where she is probably much better off. She was taken from both the Mother and the Grandmother for the lack of care of either. I am very interested in seeing about getting this child back with me....the baby that is. But I know nothing about this process. For one, I don't live in the same County any longer and I am also wondering if my age will be a factor. I will be 42 in July. With all my heart I love and adore this child. Please, can anyone kind of fill me in on what I need to do or what would be the deciding factors? Even if for some reason I am turned down, I am still so willing to try. Thanks for listening.

[Susan L Walker]

I don't know if you are residing in Tulsa or even in OK but I work with foster child in a peds practice. I would suggest you call your local DHS and find out how to become a foster parent, this usually involves classes. Then and only then would I find out the status of the baby you so dearly miss. Even DHS knows that a
child esp. a baby is better to be placed with someone that already loves them. As for your age, I see foster parents well into their 50's and 60's during wonderful jobs. Life experience may be the key to that! If you reside in OK and could speak to one of the foster parents that I know are well respected at DHS and maybe get some more advise. Good Luck.