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Let's talk legal custody vs permanent custody.
In buttercups case there is a some family who may be interested, however they will be offered legal custody first and then if they do not agree to that they would be put into the matching tool with other foster/adopt families and need to become licensed to adopt.
Seems to me if they didn't want foster placement of her that they wouldn't agree to legal custody either:confused:
Any one have and experience in this?
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would they not have to do the home study to get legal custody? they may take legal custody just to avoid all the home study and background checks if not licensed. they also would probably not get stipend or few, if any services for taking legal custody. i think states try to do that with relative placement to keep cost down and arent as strict on the criteria for placement as a licensed home.
if they want the child bad enough i would think theyd take her any way they can be sure to get her.
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It was years and years and years ago but my sister's husband had a niece who was in foster care. They were offered Legal Custody but not adoption. The mother of this niece was a mess with extra mess on top and they knew if they accepted custody she would make their life miserable. So they said no, they would love to adopt the niece but could not accept only custody. My sister and her husband inquired on their niece again when she was 13 to see again if they could adopt her but were told "no, she is too messed up to be adoptable". So the niece lingered in foster care and aged out 1 year ago. She is now living in a sort of homeless shelter and has a baby of her own.Not sure this story is relevant in your situation. It just reminded me of it. We always think, "why aren't the bio family stepping up?". Sometimes they aren't given the choice. I mean, not many of us would accept custody with continued involvement of the bioparents?
In our case I think legal custody is offered first to family only. If they do not take that, then they could adopt her but my understanding is that they would need to become licensed to do so through our county.
Its slightly confusing for us, so we just hang on tight and go on with the ride :eyebrows:
Here, that is a common thing. If the child is placed with family, it is considered a successful reunification. They do everything possible to avoid TPR, at any cost to the child. So, they will award the family legal custody, close the case, and then the family has to deal with the bios for the rest of their lives. This is why so often family will not step forward until after TPR occurs. With TPR, they can adopt and have no involvement with the bio parents. And here, no matter how long the child has been with foster family, bio family trumps foster family for permanency. And, I do believe this is known in the community.As an aside, here, bio family still has to go through background checks, fingerprinting, and home inspection.