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Hi All... I have a question.. I have had my 2 foster children now 13 mnths and ** has not done anything at all to get them back matter of fact she called me last night and said she had rather see me have the girls than their father. Anyhoo the girls are going for a 5 hour unsupervised visit with him on Thurs. and the baby whom was 2mnths old when he got locked up screams and doesnt know him at all and the 3yr old barely does. A little background on him he is on parole until the end of the year and is known to be a alcholic and beats up his new 5mnth preg wife and did the same to my two girls mother. My question is do I have ANY rights since I have had them past the 12 mnth mark????and cam ** have any bearing on me getting them? O too the bp were never married and bd's name isnt even on the babys birth cert.ANY input would be greatly appreciated...
K
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Hi K - I guess it depends what kinds of rights you mean. I don't think you have the right to decide if these children get to visit their dad - that decision is made by the social workers and the courts. I'd say you have a fairly good chance of adopting the children IF the parents rights are terminated and IF there aren't any other relatives coming forward. If the plan is still reunification you don't have any "rights" at this point - and the mom doesn't get to "pick" you over the dad either. He automatically has rights as a birth parent, until the courts determine that he does not.ps - if bio mom's rights are terminated, she does not have any legal right to decide who gets to adopt her children - it is Children's services who gets to decide! (although they may consider her request, if it is in the best interests of the child).
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:eek: I too don't think you have any "rights" as far as any fc's go but your input is listened to. You can let the cw and supervisor know what the pre-visit behaviors are and post-visit. Document everything and then ask to submit info to the judge during the 6 mo hearing. If you've had them over 12 mo. they should be getting rather close to the "permanency plan staffing". Sometimes that is a joke - but I've seen cases totally change once the workers realized that my input isn't spiteful - just for the good of the child!! I once told a cw that the fd's I had were not ready for reunification - Bio-M didn't have a handle on what they were doing or where they were at. They sent them home anyway - it was 5 wks before BioM was using again and they were back in the system. BioM's been tpr'd and BioD can't be found - the current FP's are trying to adopt. The CW said she know's "I told you so", but in her defense, the judge didn't listen either:(