safe family act of 1997

I said in my experience that the ASFA was a joke. I meant, IN MY EXPERIENCE! We had a child from the time she was 2 months, taken from her mother due to neglect. Mom never got her act together. Mom is about to be TPR'd. Child is now 11 months. Dad- who has never seen child (and denys paternity) is court ordered to undergo DNA testing. He refuses. Child still with us. She is now 18 months. Dad still refusing. At child's 2nd bday, Dad finally gets DNA test. He is father. We take months to transition to Dad's care -Dad gets her, she's there 6 weeks then back to us- nuglect by Dad. She has now been in care 30 months. No permanancy. Co-plan from day 1 has been adoption. We try to get her! This is "our" baby- we tried the - she has been in care for MORE than 15 months of the past 24. We are told that that "law" cannot and will not be enforced. Dad got her back for 3 more 6 week stints. She was finally left in his care with daily family preservation workers on site to "maintain" family integrity. The court report stated that the living conditions were deplorable. Dad got arrested for drug use while she was there the second to last time. No concern from DSS. Teenage girlfriend arrested for prostituting from the home at the same time span. So my family and I are left mourning a child we loved for more than 2 1/2 years. She did not get the family I feel she needed. We feel that the law is a joke here. I know it should be a good law, and if it works for even one child, it is! It just wasn't that way for us. :mad: