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hello All, my husband and I are fostering to adopt. Our daughter, "A"was placed with us on December 6th at 3am. We were told by CPS and the local placing agency that this was a "Legal Risk Placement". "A"has been removed two times in less than a year by CPS and her other siblings 3 times in four years. We were notified today that CPS would be placing our foster daughter in a foster only home in a city 2 hours away next week in order to make visitation more convenient for CPS and the birth parents. As of yesterday, there are now 6 children that will all be in different foster only homes. According to the CPS worker assigned to the case, birth parents are unwilling/unable to travel to the city in which we live for visitation. The case worker stated on December 19th that if birth parents were unable to make the biweekly visitation that CPS would be responsible for transporting them for each visitation. He stated that it would be a big inconvenience for him and "that's too many trips for me to be making."
The case worker is based out of Abilene. Also, finding someone to supervise the visits is another concern and as of December 19, 2014, He stated that he had not yet been able to find another social worker here willing to supervise the visits for him. This means that he would have to be present for every visit in order to supervise.
Again, he stated on the December 19th and made it very clear that he most definitely did not want to be inconvenienced in this way.
This is a big concern, as it appears that CPS isn't putting the child's best interest ahead of what's convenient for them.
Our foster daughter is thriving and healing. She has old physical scars, documented by her pediatrician, and experiences anxiety in certain situations but she is healing. Our son, 11 months older, very much enjoys being a big brother and the love and bond they share is very evident.
We have offered to drive, at our expense, to wherever and as often as they want visitation, but our multiple offers were not addressed. We will continue to offer this as an option.
We were told that the local placing agency, has been advocating for "A"to remain in our home where she is thriving. We were told by the placing agency case worker that she and other administrators do not believe that removing "A"from a foster to adopt home to foster only home was not in the best interest of the child. We are grateful for their support, but CPS was unwilling to listen to other social workers.
In closing, our concerns are that she's being taken from a possible permanent placement to only a temporary one for convenience sake. This would create yet another loss when she's had so many in her short life so far. CPS appears to be doing what is convenient or easier for them, logistically or otherwise, at the expense of the child. How many more separations will she experience until she's either returned to her birth mother or finds a forever family. We are willing to be that forever family if "A" needs us to be. Therefore, we advocate that to minimize trauma for "A" that she remain in her current placement until she's returned to her birth mother or eligible for adoption.
Do we have any rights or is there a way to get someone to listen? What can we do?
I think offering to transport to all visits is wonderful and really all you can do at this point in the case. You have no rights until a child has been with you for a year, and CPS is not even thinking of potential adoption right now, most likely, even with a history in care. They do not often want our opinion as foster parents on a case or on bonds with our families until many months down the road, if ever.
Also, if I am reading your post correctly, there are several other siblings, right? If the case goes to adoption, they will almost certainly try to find an adoptive home for the children together if at all possible no matter how long the little one has been with you. I'm sorry you were led to believe that this was most likely going to lead to adoption. There is always a chance, but this early in a case, it is just not the main goal for anyone but you. I know how hard that is.
I know that they really try to place little ones here in potential adoptive homes just in case a case turns to adoption as the goal. The case workers, however, are not usually the ones doing those placements or interested in our desires to adopt in the beginning of a case.
I definitely think they should take you up on your offer to transport for the little one's sake. I have just learned from experience that no one really seeks our opinions on these cases.
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I agree, offering to transport is about all you can do unless you are willing to take all of the sibs. The dept will search for a home that will take all 6, and in Texas there are a number of large groups that get placed together, so the chances of her staying long term are very slim. Your forever child is out there.