Foster Update

Little man has been with us for a little over 8 months.  Our "short term placement" hasn't been short term.


In July a family member came forward and said that she wanted to have custody of him.  Then she never contacted DSS to do a homestudy after they told her that everyone in the home had to have a SLED check.  Last week she came forward and said that she has decided that she couldn't take custody of him.  She stated that she really couldn't afford to take him.  I appreciate her honesty.


So at this time no family member is pursuing custody of him.  It also appears that mom is not working to get him back either.  She has not worked her plan and hasn't contacted DSS since July.  She hasn't contacted me either or requested any pictures from me.  I used to text her pictures and videos any time she asked for them.


Last week we were supposed to go to court but it got cancelled at the last minute by the judge.  We were going to court to have the case changed from reunification to concurrent reunification./TPR.  I was not happy that it was cancelled.  We have found that the biggest hindrance for moving cases forward is not DSS but the judicial system.  Court is cancelled for many different reasons and then it takes forever to get back in.  I thought that because of the holidays we wouldn't get back to court until next year.  However, there was a cancellation of another case and we are supposed to go back to court the first of December.  I sure hope that we do because I have to reschedule Larissa's sleep study to be in court.


The way the process goes we have to change to concurrent to actually file for TPR.  At this time mom has the option to start working her plan and showing some interest.  At this point she would need to work the plan, visit regularly, drug test and give support.  If mom doesn't show up at court they will have to publish for her.  They also will publish for the dad.  Publishing is very important and not doing so will cause a delay when you do get back into court.


After changing the case to concurrent they have to wait 60 days before they can go back to court for a TPR trial.  At trial the judge can say no, yes or he will think about it.  In all of our cases we always got yes at court for TPR because by the time we got to court DSS had a solid case.  There have been times that it took a long time to get in to court because of delays or the lawyer not filing like they should.

So we continue to wait for the system to do what it is supposed to do.  Hopefully we will get into court in December so that the case can be changed.  In the meantime, we have permission to take him to Florida when we travel later in the month. 

With each passing month and no contact from mom we start to wonder if Little Man will become our youngest and last child.  It is a scary time because when you start thinking maybe then there is a bigger chance of a heartbreak.