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Hello all, I am new here, but I have a specific question as to how much autonomy a judge actually has in deciding how long to wait before TPR. I know the statute says 15 out of 22 months, but our judge keeps threatening the BP's that if they don't show marked progress by the 6 month mark, she will change the primary plan to adoption. Does the judge have the authority to go against the statute so directly, or is she just trying to get them to get it in gear? Is there precedent that might allow it that anyone knows of that might allow accelerated TPR? I don't know if it has any bearing on the issue, but our FD is an infant and was only with her BP for 2 weeks. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!
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The goal you cite (which gets ignored all over the place, but thats another story) is the MAXIMUM.. The idea being that kids don't languish in the system forever. There are shorter durations. The judge can shorten if, for example, the parents have prior children taken, have a history of arrests for child abuse, etc. I had a GAL tell me they could TPR at birth if the child was born with visible FAS facial features. That proves child abuse. And so on ,and so on
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That is interesting! I was told by my FD's CW that the 15 weeks is a minimum. After your post I went back and read the ASFA more closely and I see what you mean. The sad part is that I have not spoken to a case worker yet who is aware of that. They all seem to think that the 15 months is a minimum. Oh well, at least our Judge seems to understand.
Yep, the 15 month mark is the maximum (or supposed to be anyway). Our STBAD was declared abandoned 4 1/2 months into the case (she was an infant-so no 6 month minimum) and TPR was filed the next month. Mom did decide to show back up to fight the TPR, so that did take a little time, but she lost. We are scheduled to finalize her adoption tomorrow, so the entire case will be done before it even reaches the 14 month mark. So yes, TPR can be done before the 15 month mark. Hopefully your judge will be on top of things, and FD won't spend too much time in foster care.
I wish 15 months was the maximimum. We took in a baby girl at 6 1\2 months of age. After being with us for 15 months straight, the judge extended the time. Long story short; She turned three years old the week before she was returned to her sixteen year old mother. It is my opinion that all the legalities were met but the child's best interests were not taken into consideration.Left out many details. This is an interesting discussion and I will be following it. We now have two brothers thirteen months and twenty months of age who were removed from their home six months ago for neglect. Who knows; we may have a second chance to rescue someone from 'the system'. There is so much to learn about how best to operate effectively within the system. Caseworkers, GALs, judges, etc., each has their own special place and duty within the system. But only the foster parents live with the children 25/7/365 and understand what they are going through.
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