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Here are the details:
Mom was in foster care until she was 18. She had our current foster child when she was 19. She has a diagnosis of bipolar and schizophrenia, and her family is not a good resource family, so we brought our foster child home from the hospital after he was born. She was hospitalized for 3 months immediately following delivery and was just discharged to a group home.
Here are my questions:
Does anybody have any experience with some of the timelines I can expect for this case? How long is a recommended group home stay? When discharged from there, how long can I expect the county to expect her to live independently before reunification? Can I expect a goal change to adoption? If so, will it likely take the full 15 months?
I know every case is unique, but any personal insight would be greatly appreciated!
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Are you talking about a mental health treatment facility with a program, or are you saying that bm is still in foster care and is in a group home?
In my experience, most facilities like that have a program attached to them that runs 12-24 months for completion. Is bm court ordered to be at the facility? Is it that or jail time?
My son's bm was bipolar + schizoaffective disorder, and was court ordered to be in a dual diagnosis program (drug addiction and mental health) that was 18-24 months long, depending on how long it took each individual.
They went to TPR when bm had 4 or 6 months into the program. She had done nothing before that. Total time in foster care before the TPR hearing was 20 months. It took longer because bio dad did some stuff on his caseplan in the beginning and for a while it looked like he might get AS back.
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Thank you so very much for your quick reply!
To clarify:
Her foster care was terminated at 18 due to "noncompliance." This is our first placement, and I ask questions about mom sparingly as I know she has a right to privacy. Therefore, I do not know about her "history."
With regard to her treatment, the first treatment facility was an adult/acute/inpatient facility. Her second facility is a seperate group home an hour away from the first, so I do not think they are related.
She is not serving jail time, so I can only assume her stay is a court order.
Dad has outstanding cases with the county; is currently residing in FL; and has made no attempts to have contact, so I am less worried about him.
Thank you, again, for your insight, especially for your timelines. It was the most relevant information I have received yet.
(Currently we are on wrapping up our 5th month of placement and just hoping the placment runs the 15 months we understand needs to pass before TPR is considered. I teach, so I cannot attend the weekly (2 hour) visits as I did in the beginning when I took time off when he was first born. However, once the school year ends, our caseworker asked that I begin going again. In addition, around July, which would be the 6 month mark, she suggested moving visits to Saturdays so my husband can attend as well.)