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I know every situation is different, but I was wondering for those who have been through this...if a birthparent is MIA (cannot be reached by phone, does not live at her residence and no one knows where she is), and no other relatives are found or want the be involved, does the judge tend to TPR sooner or do they still wait the 18 months for mom to show up and work her plan?
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my guess is that this willl vary somewhat from state to state, county to county and even worker to worker.
But typically they do move faster when a parent is MIA. Also - the trials tend to happen faster because it is an easy trial for the attorneys to prepare for and conduct. When a parent is MIA - the trial takes about 30 minutes tops.
Good luck.
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For us...our first fost/adopt son had this situation. He was abandoned at the hospital and they weren't able to find Mom. However we still had court every three months at which the judge pretty much said to DYFS, "try to find mom, try to find out who dad is" DYFS admitted to me that since was mom's 6th kid (all others adopted) that they weren't trying all that hard, plus there was only so much they could do to find her: notices in paper, etc. She reappeared right before we were about to go to TPR because she had another baby. There was another court case to give her a chance to show up and speak but she didn't. We got him at 2 months old and adopted him at 2.5 years old.
There is an independent ground for terminating parental rights under NJ law based on abandonment which can be met after 6 months have elapsed without any contact with parent (coupled with whereabouts unknown for that 6 month duration). If DYFS isnt being aggressive to move the case along on that ground, you should speak to the child's law guardian about proposing it, or even showing up at one of the hearings or writing a letter to the judge asking about it.