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I am in CA and do soing so much research. I have a nephew in foster care, he is only 2. He is also in CA but 12 hours away.
To make a LONG story short, we are an approved family, have kept contact, visit, and are fighting for him. State Adoptions has named us as the prospective adoptive parents............the foster parents want to adopt him and are doing everything they can to keep my nephew.
My point in asking your stories is two-fold; one I WILL get my nephew back but I want to do so as fast as possible to help him get settled and cause the least amount of disruption (I know there will be therapy needed) as possible for him, and the second is to CHANGE legislation.
By that I mean to protect the child first, and then the families (both biological and adoptive)! There has got to be a better way. AS I sit to write out what things should look like, I am in awe of the damage that has occurred.
This system is broken in so many ways................the child is the one to suffer. In our case the local CPS has committed perjury (yes I can prove it) and the State Adoptions (local) has been in league with them until I found a way to navigate their system better.
So many relatives AND adoptive parents are left to flap in the wind, at the agency(s) mercy. NO agency should be able to twist the state regualtions so much and get away with it.
So I am asking for your story and what happened to the child. Was it a good move, for the best, and what kind of a fight was it? I am not trying to cause you pain.............I just want more background to write up a proposal for a new bill. It will take time but with enough parties input I believe we CAN make a difference.
THANKS to everyone and I hope that more people and agnencies will REALLY think of the child first. So many lawsuits by previously adopted kids are out there.........I am amazement that this is happening!!!!
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I'll give some bare basics and you're welcome to ask me more (or e-mail me.)My son that I adopted was with me for 6 months and it was documented that he'd never shown any signs of attachment until he was with me. He had been removed from Bmom at 2.5 due to neglect and exposure, in a foster home that was abusive for 1.5 years, a group home twice, and 2 other foster homes - at the age of 5. He was classified as intensive treatment and I was a specialized home.I had issues with the agency that placed him because they weren't providing services (therapy, supervising visits, etc.) So the agency removed him from my home, put him in a home for 3 weeks, then moved him again to another home. I contacted the county and was told he couldn't do anything.About 4 months later (after asking for visits and being denied) I spoke to his family and hired an attorney. I found out the county COULD have stopped the move but the guy didn't want to have problems with the agency. The agency had issues before and were known in the courts for being shady. He wasn't removed for any reason (that they had grounds to move him) and it was only about covering THEIR butts and not about what was best for him. It took me 4 more months to have him put back in my home (I got certified through another agency) and then about 10 months to finalize the adoption. The first agency had put things in the court documents that weren't true and although the judge didn't care it upset me.In another case the SW did nothing to initiate contact with relatives, so I finally did because they said he was going to be going there. The family has visited the child 4 times in 18 months (for 3 hour visits) and the child is unsupervised, exposed to smoking, doesn't wear a seat belt, no car seat, etc. The relative had raised 3 generations of kids that had all had their own kids removed, criminal records, no jobs, etc. She had a stroke and had someone in the home that had a felony. And they were still thinking about putting him with these relatives because then it would take him off the city/state payroll.I've seen so many things wrong with the system it's crazy.
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