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I need advice! My husband and I have been foster parents for about 5 1/2 years. We've had quite a few placements come and go along the way, as one would expect. August of 2017 we got a placement for a set of twins, one boy and one girl. They were 5 1/2 months old and weighed just over 8lbs a piece. There was extensive neglect. They hadn't been held and hadn't been fed consistently. They were failure to thrive and had spent two weeks in the hospital for this, as well as RSV. They were in our care for just over a year. In that time we managed to get them on the growth charts, bring them up to developmental targets and they were happy, healthy babies. Mom disappeared along the way and dad was in and out (prior to being taken into custody they had little to no contact with him at all). However, just as DHHS was making the decision on whether to give up and file a TPR, dad's family got involved and basically carried him through his services. The children were returned to dad and his girlfriend, who are living with his stepsister. Much to our great surprise, and greater relief, dad determined that we would be allowed to have continued contact. I go and retrieve them for a couple days every other weekend. Now comes the part I need advice on. The girlfriend clearly prefers the boy to the girl, and makes no effort to hide it. This, in itself, is not the concern. The second time we picked them up for a visit, I noted a small circle mark on the girl's cheek. It appeared to be a healing wound, or perhaps ringworm. I made a note to keep an eye on it and see if it was gone the next time we picked them up. Two weeks later we took them again and the mark was still there. It had faded a little and appeared to be more of a scar than a wound. This was the beginning of December. When we picked them up the weekend before Christmas, there was a lateral bruise on her left cheek, and two lateral red marks on her right cheek that appeared to be finger marks. It looked like someone had grabbed her face really hard. I took pictures of these marks, but I wondered if perhaps I was overreacting. To me they look like fingerprints, but I could just be seeing what I want to see. The bruises are now gone. The little circle scar is still there and I'm not wondering if it wasn't, perhaps, a cigarette burn mark, but I have noted no further marks/bruises the last time I picked them up for a visit. I am concerned for the little girl's safety. I have seen the girlfriend be brusque and rough with her, but I've never witnessed anything that I would call physical abuse. I want to report this (I still have the pictures of the bruises and marks) but I am concerned they will know it is me and I won't get to see them anymore and God knows what would happen if no one was watching. I would like for more concrete evidence, but I am concerned that waiting is putting them (or at least her) at risk. What should I do?
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