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Want to pick your brains. I have doll baby and took her as a 7 day placement originally. She got here and was such a good baby so we decided to keep her until the next court hearing which is next week. At the previous court hearing the aunt requested custody of the child. The judge has ordered her background and home be assessed by the next court hearing which is next week. In the interim I've found out that aunt has 2 drug convictions. What has been your experience in this situation? Have the kids been approved to move?
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I would think that the date and severity of these convictions would be considered. If they were say 10 - 15 years ago, they may be overlooked. (Providing she has kept a clean record since then) A possession charge may not be as bad as say a manufacturing type of charge.
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I don't know if it varies by state, but we had a relative disqualified from even having unsupervised visits for having a couple DUIs (some 20+ years old).
Not that DUIs aren't bad, but they're not drug convictions. Age of conviction didn't seem to matter. And he didn't want custody, just the ability to visit.
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I do think it varies by state. And in most cases, I think it depends on a couple of things: the severity of the charges (i.e. possession vs. intent) and whether there are multiple charges (showing a lifestyle, rather than a one time mistake).
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In our state it also matters why kiddo is in care. We were chosen to adopt AS4 because of a relative's alcohol history over 20 years ago. He came to us from a relative placement because of the relative's drinking.
So if baby came to you because of drugs, it's sometimes considered more significant if a relative has/had a drug problem.
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In CA, if it is less than a decade(unsure of timeframe), DCFS can deny placement. However, the relative can request an exception.
In our case, relative had something on their record older than a decade however due to relative's relationship w/ Bios, DCFS denied placement.
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I had one go to a grandparent who had multiple felony convictions in multiple states. I do not know what they were for, but drugs is a good guess. It was upsetting to me, but this particular CW had a cultural bias in this case. I saw her do an extreme opposite in another case. :( So more than you really would expect falls on the CW as long as they can find a supervisor to sign off. I only found this out because a different supervisor told me they went around her back and she would never have approved it.
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Thank you all for your responses. Even though we ADORE HER I'm okay with her going to relatives, my only issue is I hope this doesn't drag on forever and ever.
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Smarty
I agree on timeliness! Ours is still with us longer than expected. We'd be ok with her going to relatives. Or happy to adopt.
We feel the same way. Either option would be fine with us. I support RU or moving with relatives just get it done in a timely manner. Good thing court is early next week. Hopefully we have a judge with some darn sense that can make a logical ruling. No continuances...just make a decision.
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I think it depends.
I have a relative who, without Cps, won custody of her granddaughter through the court system not long after a DUI. However, we had to sign a statement limiting contact with our foster kids several years later.
Additionally, my kids have an uncle with a DUI (not an alcoholic, a poor choice) and it had been 7 years AND the kids were originally given to him and were fine, but Cps said no. I was told that had they fought that, they would have won, but intervening and taking on three kids would have been challenging.
So it all seems to depend.
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I think it depends.
I have a relative who, without Cps, won custody of her granddaughter through the court system not long after a DUI. However, we had to sign a statement limiting contact with our foster kids several years later.
Additionally, my kids have an uncle with a DUI (not an alcoholic, a poor choice) and it had been 7 years AND the kids were originally given to him and were fine, but Cps said no. I was told that had they fought that, they would have won, but intervening and taking on three kids would have been challenging.
So it all seems to depend.
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